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THE 



LIFE AND EPOCH 



OF 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON 



a f (sitoricai ^tUD? 



BY THE 

HONORABLE GEORGE SHEA 

M 
CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE MARINE COURT 



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BOSTON 

HOUGHTON, OSGOOD AND COMPANY 

C()c EibersiUe presfii, CambrtBffe 

1879 






Copyright, 1879, 
By GEORGE SHEA. 

All rights reserved. 



RIVERSIDE, CAMBRIDGE: 

STEREOTYPED AND PRINTED BY 

H. O. HOUGHTON AND COMPANY. 



ESSAY TO DELINEATE THE LIFE AND EPOCH 

OF 

ALEXANDER HAMILTON 

IS INSCRIBED TO THE 

LORD HOUGHTON, 

SCHOLAR, POET, STATESMAN, MASTER OF THE ENGLISH TONGUE, 

IN REMEMBRANCE OF PLEASANT SOCIAL HOURS, 

AND 

DJ ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF HIS WARM KINDRED FEELINGS TOWARD 

MY COUNTRY. 



INTRODUCTION. 



This book had its first step in a monograph on 
Hamilton as a historical study. The prosperity 
of that first step induces me to undertake an elabo- 
rate exposition of his early and least known years, 
and of the great epoch to which he belongs. I 
limit the narrative to this volume ; and, for the 
present, to those years. From the time that Ham- 
ilton entered the personal military service of 
Washington to the end of his life, his career is 
readily found in the history of our country. It is 
not necessary to the special utility of this volume 
that it should spread into ground well occupied 
by the labors of other writers. However, I pur- 
pose, but do not promise, to continue my work ; 
so that it shall ultimately include every incident 
and phase of his memoirs in their private, profes- 
sional, and public aspects. I hope that time and 
opportunity will aid my purpose. 



vi INTR OD UCTION. 

The term epoch is used rather than that of age, 
era, or times : because I will speak concerning an 
indefinite space of time constituted by the poten- 
tial and still accretive importance of a great event 
— the establishing of the Constitution of the 
United States : and likewise, for the reason that 
the establishment of that Constitution laid down 
laws for national government and national devel- 
opment which have not ceased to act upon its 
own course and to influence foreign nations. 
That epoch comprehends, in its full treatment, 
the history of implied powers, derivable from a 
written form of constitutional government; and 
applied, by necessary inference not mere incident, 
to the current exigencies of its administration. 
The institution of the Bank of the United 
States, the acquisition of the territories of Louisi- 
ana and of Florida, and the emission of bills of 
credit as a war-measure under the administration 
by President Lincoln, are memorable and radical 
instances of power assumed as if authorized by 
implication. 

The introductory three chapters are designed 
to excite an interest in those readers who are not 
acquainted with the epoch and the man, and to 



INTR OD UCTION. vii 

delineate the general scope of the whole subject, — 
to bring afresh to the memory of other readers 
the historical circumstances which formed a stage 
for the talents of Hamilton. I have gathered to- 
gether, in those chapters, some of the testimonies 
of the most celebrated of his contemporaries, in 
America and in Europe, to the creative faculties of 
his mind, and to the grandeur and permanence of 
his labors. They attempt to describe the trans- 
formation of a political society, which, in the 
midst of revolution, continued and preserved law 
and order, and retained the substance of its an- 
cient system in increased vigor and efficacy. 

The Republic of States in Empire and the indi- 
viduality of him to whom is ascribed its chief and 
vitalizing merit,^ present a theme noble and ex- 
emplary. We must recognize in the long dura- 
tion of an institution the proof of its goodness ; in 
the incontestable influence of a man upon his age 
the proof of his genius ; and acknowledge the 
empire of his ideas when his principles and his 
system triumph in spite of his death or defeat.^ 
For Hamilton is really the truest representative 

1 Guizot and Laboulaye ; Marshall and Story. 

2 See preface to the Life ofCcesarhy Napoleon III. 



viii INTR OD UCTION. 

of that which has endured and lives in our polit- 
ical fabric : just as a legal standard of value repre- 
sents a correcting authority for that which is in 
its nature amenable to chance and change. 

The writing of this book is the occupation of 
those days when I am freed from the performance 
of public duties. The labor is one in which I 
take delight, and is a source, during vacations, of 
happiness to me : may the book be one of pleas- 
ure, if not enlightment, to others. Begun on the 
banks of the Hudson, I continue it here amid 
the beautiful and superb scenery near the upper 
Rhone : in that Switzerland to which Hamilton 
was prepared to emigrate if the revolutionary 
contest in America had resulted disastrously to 
the colonists. 

If this essay to relate the story of Hamilton's 
life, and to treat of the historical inducements to 
our national unity, should succeed in gaining 
the attention of American youth to the studious 
contemplation of one of the most eminent char- 
acters of their own country, I will feel that I do 
not fail in another object which I have in view. 
" And if I have done well, as is fitting the 
story, it is that which I desire : but if slenderly 



INTRODUCTION. ix 

and meanly, it is that which I could attain 

unto."i 

The numerous notes which will be found 

throughout the following pages are intended to 

furnish carefully selected authority for each fact. 

Annotation, also, assists us to the sense of the text : 

as intelligible gesticulation explains the meaning 

and spirit of the orator. 

Geo. Shea. 

MoNTREUX, Switzerland^ July, i^77- 

1 1 1 Maccabees, xv. 38. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

PAGE 

Introductory. — Of the Individual . . . . 7 



CHAPTER II. 

Introductory. — Of the Individual {continued) . . 47 

CHAPTER III. 
The Founder of Empire 75 

CHAPTER IV. 
The Life and Epoch [1757-1774] I43 

CHAPTER V. 
The Life and Epoch [1774] 183 

CHAPTER VI. 
The Life and Epoch [1774- 1775] 245 

CHAPTER VII. 
The Life and Epoch [1775] 287 



2 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

PAGE 

The Life and Epoch [1775-1776] 343 

CHAPTER IX. 
Conclusion 379 

Appendix . » . 433 

Index 443 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Page 
Hamilton ; after the portrait by Wiemar. Frontispiece. 

Fac-simile of Hamilton's letter to his son Philip ... 7 

Talleyrand ; fac-simile of the engraving by Boucher Des- 
noyers, from the portrait by F. Gerard . . . .20 

Mrs. Hamilton, in the 28th year of her age ; after the por- 
trait by J. Earle, painted in 1787 45 

Map, showing the proposed restricted boundaries accorded to 
the United States by the secret project of the Court of 
France, submitted to the English Ministry in 1782 . .134 

Seabury, Bishop of Connecticut ; fac-simile of the engrav- 
ing by William Sharp ; from the portrait by Duche, reputed 
to have been finished by Benjamin West .... 292 

Burr, after the portrait by Vanderlyn 400 



CHAPTERS I. AND II. 
THE INDIVIDUAL. 



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CHAPTER I. 

INTRODUCTORY. 

OF THE INDIVIDUAL. 

More than three-score years and ten have 
passed since Alexander Hamilton died. Men 
then thought and spoke of his death as untimely 
for himself and his country. History will give no 
such judgment. For himself, for his peace of 
mind and the simple grandeur of his fame, the 
time of his death must be esteemed fortunate; 
for the Republic, now as we look back upon the 
course of events, the sacrifice appears to have been 
desirable. He was not doomed to outlive his use- 
fulness ; nor to live into those days when doctrines 
which he feared and opposed, and when personal 
solicitation for office, were to gain ascendency in 
the administration of the government. Nor was his 
heart to be embittered, as many others have been, 
by ephemeral contentions, in which the honors of 
his pitched and decisive battles might be dimmed 
and degraded.^ He had laid the foundation, broad 

^ "Jefferson and Madison were brought forward by caucus nom- 
inations The first year [1821] of Mr. Monroe's second 

term had scarcely passed away before the political atmosphere be- 



8 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 

and deep, of a republic for the people. He had 
secured, by potential constitutional bulwarks, the 
frame of its government from the changes and 
chances of ordinary mutability, decay, and violent 
revolution. It was, by its written word, self-ad- 
justing and self-remedial. It contained, within it- 
self, the means of improvement, derived from the 
Confederation, but now made practicable and vital ; 
and, like the adaptive nature of the common law, 
capable of falling in with each phase in the prog- 
ress of true civilization and national expansion. 
Revolution by force was to be without excuse 
henceforth. The winds and the waves may now 
come and beat upon the house. It was not built 
in the sands of an ever shifting popular feeling, 
but on the fixed and durable rock of a constitu- 
tional Republic. A " fierce democratic " meant, in 
his understanding, as enlightened by the philoso- 
phy taught by historical examples, license, not law, 
and ultimate anarchy : a republic meant that " dem- 
ocratic " under the regulation of a supreme law. 

This discriminating idea concerning a form of 
pure republican government was one entertained, 
at that early day, by a few forward men, who 
seem to have been unwilling to openly proclaim it. 

came inflamed to an unprecedented extent. The republican party, 
so long in the ascendant, and apparently so omnipotent, was lit- 
erally shattered into fragments, and we had no fewer than five 
republican presidential candidates in the field." — President Van 
Buren's Political Parties, p. 3. 



THE INDIVIDUAL. 9 

Mirabeau ventured once, and only once, to utter 
the thought ; and then at that private meeting of 
friends, so fatal in its immediate consequences to 
himself and to France. Lafayette, " too republican 
for the genius of his country," was denounced in 
the National Assembly, his arrest decreed, and 
emissaries sent to carry the decree into effect. 
The annihilation of the constitutional party and 
the commencement of the Reign of Terror, were 
concurrent events. Hamilton was unreserved in all 
places where discussion was appropriate. Never 
untimely intrusive, yet, when he spoke, it was fully 
and without reserve. He acted under the influence 
of opinions which had been honestly formed, and 
in the correctness of which he confided to the end ; 
opinions which, he hoped, would in the sequel 
prove acceptable to the majority, but to which he 
felt it his duty to adhere, whatever might be the 
consequence to himself of his perseverance. That 
he favored a monarchy is an absurd prejudice. If 
he had favored it he knew quite well that a com- 
monwealth was the old beaten highroad that leads 
to royalty.^ Many too sincerely believed that he 

1 Napoleon III. observed and spoke of the familiar " tendency of 
the democracy to personify itself in one man." Franklin declared, 
in the Constitutional Convention, that there is " a natural inclina- 
tion " in the masses of mankind to kingly government, " as it gives 
more the appearance of equality among citizens ; and that they 
like." — Madison's Debates, vol. 2, p. 773. 

The emperor, in a conversation with Colonel Vaudrey, related in 



lO ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 

did ; and suspicion detected as proof that which 
reason should place to a different account. He 
knew human nature better than to attempt to su- 
perinduce upon American civilization, peculiar 
and sensitive as it was, a system already rejected, 
and alien to the genius of its origin and develop- 
ment/ To be sure, the war for independence was 
an assertion and vindication of the rights claimed 
by the colonists as British subjects. The denial 
of those rights by a British ministry was officially 
avowed as the adequate cause for resistance, and, 
when persisted in, of final complete separation 
from the crown.^ The object of the Revolution 

the preface to the English edition of his Idees Napoleoiiiennes, 
said : " France is democratic, not repubHcan. By democracy, I 
mean the government of an individual by the will of all ; by a re- 
public, I mean the government of a number, in obedience to a cer- 
tain system." 

1 "The idea," writes HamiltQn, "of introducing a monarchy or 
aristocracy into this country, by employing the influence and force 
of a government, continually changing hands, towards it, is one of 
those visionary things that none but madmen could meditate, and 
that no wise man will believe." — Hamilton' s Works, vol. 4, p. 271. 

2 In the closing pages of his autobiography, Mr. Jefferson tells 
us that he called upon Franklin in Philadelphia in 1790, and only a 
few weeks before his death (which occurred April 17, 1790), when 
Franklin placed in Jefferson's hands a full account of his negoti- 
ations with the British ministry in London, through Lord Howe. 
" I remember," continues Jefferson, " that Lord North's answers 
were dry, unyielding in the spirit of unconditional submission, and 
betrayed an absolute indifference to the occurrence of a rupture ; 
and he said to the mediators, at last, that 'a rebellion was not to 
be deprecated on the part of Great Britain ; that the confiscations 
It would produce would provide for many of their friends.' This 



THE INDIVIDUAL. II 

was to uphold and continue, not to prostrate and 
destroy, those principles of free government and 
that jurisprudence which were their inheritance, 
and constituted their cherished state-household. 
As Macaulay says of the English Revolution of 
1688, an event which ihese colonists ever regarded 
with respect, " in almost every word and act may 
be discerned a profound reverence for the past." 
But it was the principles of English constitutional 
liberty, and not the hereditary monarchy, which 
held their profound reverence ; — the principles of 
that revolution, so accurately described by the 
same brilliant writer, and which "of all revolu- 
tions the least violent, has been of all revolutions 
the most beneficent. It finally decided the great 
question whether the popular element which had, 
ever since the age of Fitzwalter and De Montfort, 
been found in the English polity, should be de- 
stroyed by the monarchical element, or should be 
suffered to develope itself freely, and to become 
dominant."^ Hamilton, and the Nationalists of 
that period who followed his lead, knew that a 
commonwealth or a Cromwellian era was alike 
not to the purpose of settling for their country a 
beneficial, competent, and permanent government. 

expression was reported by the mediators to Franklin, and indi- 
cated so cool and calculated a purpose in the ministry as to render 
compromise hopeless, and the negotiation was discontinued." — 
yefferson's Works, vol. i (Washington edition). ' 
1 History of England, vol. 2, p. 464. 



12 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 

A commonwealth was no government: it was a 
thing to be governed. An executive that is good 
for anything cannot be included as a part of a 
government floating upon an exclusive democratic 
plan. None denied the truth of that. The Con- 
federacy, which the Constitution superseded, had 
no executive head. Commonwealths end in anar- 
chy, or in one-man power. For these reasons the 
government most natural to the people of Amer- 
ica would be — as nearly as a republican form 
would allow, without losing or impairing its essen- 
tial distinctiveness — one that might most nearly 
assimilate to the British constitution " as its model." 
This proposition was thought best suited to the 
education, instincts, and real needs of the people ; 
and one requiring no radical or violent change, 
and allowing " a thorough reform of the existing 
system." Washington, Adams, Hamilton, Jay, 
thought the same as to this being the requisite 
model. No commonwealth, no royalty, was cor- 
respondent to the conditions and demands of their 
country. It must be a Republic. " I am fully of 
opinion," wrote Washington, in answer to Madi- 
son, in February, 1787, " that those who lean to a 
monarchical government .... have not consulted 
the public mind." During the secret debates, 
Hamilton clearly and boldly took care, not only to 
be understood, but, that he should not be misun- 
derstood. " These truths," he said, when urging 



THE INDIVIDUAL. 1 3 

upon the convention the strength of a senate, to 
be composed of life members, as a safeguard 
against the popular will, when impulsive and ir- 
regular in its proceedings, " are not often told in 
public assemblies, but they cannot be unknown to 
any who hear me." " As long as offices are open 
to all men, and no constitutional rank is estab- 
lished, it is pure republicanism. But if we incline 
too much to democracy^ we shall soon shoot into a 
monarchy!' " The fabric of the American Em- 
pire," are his emphatic words, " ought to rest on 
the solid basis of the consent of the People ; " and 
" the streams of national power ought to flow im- 
mediately from that pure original fountain of all 
legitimate authority." ^ And so, with similar en- 
lightened convictions, it was, that Mirabeau held 
not his peace when the throne of Louis was stag- 
gering to its destruction, and a new frame of gov- 
ernment was contemplated for the French people. 
" Even supposing, my friends," he said, in the un- 
guarded confidence of the moment, when Petion, 
and other unworthy intimates were present, on 
that occasion to which we have already referred, 
" that royalty were now to be abolished ; it is not 
a republic that must be established, — we are not 
yet ripe for this, — it must be a commonwealth."^ 

1 Secret Debates of Convention, p. 170. 

2 The France of 1872 became "ripe" for a Republic, and its 
course indicates that the elements of perpetuity are inherent in its 
present prosperous republican form of government. 



14 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 

He preferred to tolerate and curb royalty, than fly 
to the ills of a commonwealth. " From that mo- 
ment," says the Prince de Talleyrand, who was at 
the meeting, " such is my firm belief, his ruin was 
decided." Mirabeau was soon no more.^ Hamil- 
ton was confident that his own countrymen were 
" ripe " for the benefaction of a Republic. Sharp 
experience had, for ages, enured them to self-im- 
posed restraints upon the exercise of their politi- 
cal, moral, and, in the New England communi- 

^ The interview between Mirabeau and Talleyrand, on April 2d, 
1 791, is one of the most dramatic in personal memoirs. It was but 
two days before Mirabeau's death, commencing in the afternoon, 
near the fountain in the gardens of the Palais Royal, and ending 
late that night at the restaurateur Robert's. Talleyrand describes 
the whole scene, and says that Mirabeau depicted " the terrible fu- 
ture," and that never did " the herculean powers of his mind " ap- 
pear more impressive. At the dinner his late depression of mind 
left him ; he drank deeply ; his spirits rose high ; and he sang 
songs. Talleyrand says, in those recollections, " Already were 
Mirabeau's views and principles grown too tame, too reasonable, 
for these infuriated demagogues, and they had several times re- 
ceived with ill-temper his biting sarcasms at what he called their 
exaltation republicaine. I remember the effect produced upon one 
occasion at a private meeting of his friends, and the gloom and 
murmurs of rage with which the concluding words of a speech he 
had risen to make were received." The speech he alludes to is 
that of which we have, in the text, quoted the concluding words. 
" From that moment, such is my firm belief, his ruin was decided. 
The circumstances of his death will certainly justify, both to his 
friends and to posterity, every suspicion of poison ; while, on the 
other hand, there were no symptoms which could not be accounted 
for by the complaint under which it had from the first been pro- 
claimed that he was sinking." 



THE INDIVIDUAL. 1 5 

ties, even religious absolute rights. They had 
been educated in a severe school indeed, and the 
uses of adversity had been sweet to them. The 
United States of America became, and are, by 
natural induction, a Republic : constituted by the 
states in empire. 

The death of Caesar consummated the Roman 
Empire. The daggers of the conspirators per- 
fected the thing which they meant to destroy. So, 
by a kindred but ignoble act, did the death of Ham- 
ilton bring over the dispositions of men a resur- 
rection of long-buried thought. For a time the 
turbulent passions sank to a repose, and the still 
small voice of reason could be heard ; and it was 
heeded. It was the death of C^sar which brought 
the Romans under the Empire. The death of 
Hamilton, in the fullness of time, confirmed the 
United States of America in their Empire; an 
empire which has grown, from the inherent energy 
of its republican union and democratic accretive 
development, into a Nation, united and strong: 
rich in national resources and of competent power. 
A power, new and untried ; and which, before 
those three-score years and ten had gone by, was 
to be put to the proof of its strength ; and, in that 
proof, was destined to disclose the invincibility of 
democracy when within the expression and com- 
mand of republican institutions. The fasces of 
Roman symbolism has, at last, found in statesman- 



1 6 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 

ship the truth of which it is the emblem. For one 
hundred years the experiment of such government 
has gone on ; first, for a few years, by a confedera- 
tion of its sovereign States, and then, within a 
more perfect union, with decisive powers and a 
complete supremacy over all subjects delegated to 
it by the peoples of the several States, and over 
those auxiliary subjects which, by implication, may 
become necessary and convenient to the idea and 
power of a sovereign national authority. It was 
given to Hamilton to see political society in its 
first suggestive indications ; in its inchoate, crude 
process of formation. So he could, and did, ob- 
serve its growth into a matured organism ; and, as 
we might say, its anatomy became as familiar to 
him as were those principles which are essential 
to its viability. 

The man and the theme interest us. It was an 
experiment in governing thitherto unknown or 
untried. That political arrangement and check- 
mating among the Italian States, which arose from 
the brain of Lorenzo de' Medici,^ is more curious 
and nice than it proved to be efficacious ; and the 
Italian States soon again were hostile, and re- 
mained dissociate and apart. It failed ; but the 
Republic of the United States of America has en- 

1 See Roscoe's Life of Lorenzo de" Medici, vol. 2, p. 3. From 
that device, however, arose the modern idea of "the balance of 
power," which has exercised so important a part in European in- 
ternational affairs. 



THE INDIVIDUAL. 17 

dured ; and has passed a century of years since its 
people declared themselves free and independent. 
They are united, strong, prosperous ; and have, 
this year of Our Lord, 1876, invited the people of 
all other lands to come in amono- them and wit- 
ness the evidences of their progress in arts and 
sciences. Her orators have instructed us of the 
past that we may be enabled to understand and 
value the present. Paeans have been sung to civil 
and religious liberty as illustrated and approved 
by the course of American constitutional govern- 
ment. The Landing of the Pilgrims, and the " Pil- 
grim's Progress," have again been rehearsed with an 
unimpaired freshness that age seems not to wither 
nor custom stale. But the name — no, not even 
the name — of Hamilton has come from either 
pen or lip on the day they celebrated. Is it, that, 
praising the tree of constitutional republican lib- 
erty and its fruit, and lost in that admiration, they 
forgot the root which, under the ground, still gives 
that tree life and vigor.? We now rise to re- 
spond to the neglected name, and offer for accept- 
ance the sentiment : Alexander Hamilton, the 
founder of the American States in Empire. 

On the 17th of September, 1787, the Conven- 
tion assembled at Philadelphia, at length agreed 
upon a federo-national Constitution, and closed its 
deliberations. That Constitution was now to be 
submitted to a Convention of delegates, chosen in 



1 8 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 

each State by its people, under the recommenda- 
tion of its legislature, for their assent and rati- 
fication ; and each convention assenting to and 
ratifying the Convention was to give notice of the 
act to " the United States in Congress assembled." 
The delegates on behalf of the people of New 
York were requested to convene at Poughkeepsie, 
a town situate on the Hudson River, on the 17th 
of June following. The contest there for tlie 
adoption of the proposed new Constitution was to 
be earnest, sometimes fierce and acrimonious ; and 
between able and honest citizens who looked on 
the problem with widely differing interests and 
opinions. One party, led by George Clinton, then 
Governor of the State, regarded it as inevitably 
tending to the strangling of their new-born liberty, 
and surely to end in monarchy; the other party 
respected it as the only hope left, by which the dis- 
jected members of the existing Confederacy might 
be compelled to adhere together in a beneficial 
union ; and, thereby avoiding both monarchy and 
commonwealth, become entitled to the name, power, 
and credit of a nation. The moment was critical. 
The future of the colonies, now by fact of arms a 
nation in a league, hung trembling. The geo- 
graphical and political positions of New York, as 
related to the other States, were most important 
and precarious, and full of danger to itself. 

The man who had led, and who was to continue 



THE INDIVIDUAL. 19 

to guide, the Nationalists to successful, ultimate 
triumphs, was at this interval of time in the 
city of Albany. He had married, in 1 780, Eliza- 
beth, the second daughter of General Philip Schuy- 
ler, of that city, a distinguished soldier of the 
Revolution. Hamilton was now but thirty-one 
years old. His reputation for address, energy, and 
propriety of judgment, exceeded that of other men. 
His was, what Lamartine says of Mirabeau's wis- 
dom, " the infallibility of good sense." The epi- 
thet precocious never applied to him. From his 
3^outh up his intellectual work had none of the in- 
firmities of unripe effort. He was one of those 
few instances in which an intuitive knowledge 
seems to supersede the labor of learning, and the 
hidden nature of things appears to come without 
the effort of experiment. " He could see conse- 
quents yet dormant in their principles."^ This 
sounds like extravagant eulogy, but the full devel- 
opment of our theme will show that we are paint- 
ing an accurate portrait in natural colors. The 
founders of empire are the exception in history. 
Perhaps history does not teach a more interesting 
example of man's faith in a principle, and of hero- 
ism in its propagation. Columbus did not previse, 
in his mind's eye, more clearly, beyond the waste 
of waters, a new physical world, than did Hamilton 
perceive the new world of political household 

^ South's Works, vol. i, p. 26. 




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Fac-simile from the picture presented by the Marquis de Talleyrand-Perigord, at Valen9ay, to the author. 
Heliotype Printing Co., Boston. 



THE INDIVIDUAL. 21 

tions of national finance and public credit. While 
yet the Abbe de Perigord, Talleyrand had acquired 
a serviceable knowledge of the science of finance, 
and of the fiscal condition of his nation. His 
studies were pursued chiefly during a brief season 
of retirement at Autun. Hamilton's were wrouQ-ht 
out amid the stir of active war ; and his famous 
letter to Robert Morris was written by camp-fires, 
while the army was in winter quarters at Morris- 
town. They had each come to the belief; and ad- 
vocated that "in a national bank alone can be 
found the ingredients to constitute a wholesome, 
solid, and beneficial credit." Talleyrand, when 
Necker presented his elaborate report on the fiscal 
state of France, found an opportunity on that oc- 
casion to prove his knowledge of the subject, and 
his ability to develop and make it intelligible and 
interesting. In his speech, December 4, 1789, he 
had proposed a national bank, and the accumula- 
tion of a sinking fund for the gradual payment of 
the public debt. On January 28, 1790, he had re- 
ported a plan for the establishment of a mint. 
They had also, each, considered of, and, by the 
request of the national legislatures reported, a 
scheme concerning manufactures and commerce, 
and an adequate protective policy.-^ Talleyrand 

I Hamilton was the parent of protection to American industry. 
Henry Clay and, afterwards, Horace Greeley were the revivers of 
his policy, and its persistent advocates. 



2 2 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 

had proposed a uniform system of weights and 
measures ; a system looking to uniformity among 
all nations ; and it was adopted by his exertions, 
— it has proved to be the one most worthy of 
universal use. They had each formed a plan of 
public education. Talleyrand had presented his 
report to the National Assembly. In it he treated 
of the origin of public education, its objects, its 
organization, and its methods. It is said that this 
was the first time public education, as a duty of 
the state, had been proposed in Europe. The 
plan, it is true, was not then undertaken. But 
when public affairs became settled after the Revo- 
lution of 1830, and when a citizen king was 
brought in, chiefly by Talleyrand's diplomacy, a 
kindred system of national instruction was estab- 
lished, in which the main features of his plan 
were engrafted upon the more mature and per- 
fect school system which had been devised by 
Hamilton. They had, also, each confirmed opin- 
ions concerning the general nature and science of 
popular government. Those opinions were alike, 
and came from like reflection. Their conception 
of a legislative assembly had been inspired by the 
English theory. The English constitution was no 
exotic in France. It had borne fruit there from 
an early day. A Philip de Comines had praised 
its polity in the fifteenth century, and a De Lolme 
had explained its growth, lauded its principles of 



THE INDIVIDUAL. 23 

civil liberty, and enforced its example three centu- 
ries later. A simple single assembly was not a 
fit depositary for power. So thought Hamilton, 
instructed by the lessons of the Congress of the 
Confederation ; and so thought Talleyrand, in- 
structed by those of the States-General at Ver- 
sailles. Their studies had been in the deep, clear, 
tranquil principles of the English Constitution, 
as instituted by Alfred the Great ; overborne for 
centuries by the Norman Conquest, and revived 
in dignity and power when England, in the Revo- 
lution of 1688, re-settled its liberties upon the an- 
cient foundations from which it had been violently 
pushed centuries before. The principle of the 
Revolution of 1688 was the instructive prototype 
which sanctioned the revolt of the American col- 
onists in 1776. Talleyrand had wished as well 
for France ; but 1 793, as a mighty flood, had burst 
its way through all restraints and dykes, and 
spread destruction and desolation far and wide. 
The people became a mob ; then, naturally and of 
course, absolute power became centered in few 
hands ; then the Reign of Terror. France had 
attempted to establish philosophy by crime, and 
liberty by license. Hamilton and Talleyrand had 
learned by experience that true government was 
law ; and in constitutional law alone was to be 
found perfect liberty. It is well worth the time to 
continue this comparison a while longer, that we 



24 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 

may so observe how similarly men act when 
nursed in the same alma mater of statehousehold. 
Like principles, when followed, produce like re- 
sults. Hamilton rejected in his theory of govern- 
ment for America all forms which were not the 
embodiments of a true republican system. Hence 
he regarded the English Constitution as the " best 
model to work from." Talleyrand's preference 
was for a limited and constitutional monarchy. 
Lafayette and the constitutional party had the 
same preference ; and they and Talleyrand were 
the sincere reproducers of the doctrines of Mira- 
beau. A government for the people, rather than a 
government by the people. This habit of thought 
Hamilton and Talleyrand had already acted upon 
when they each represented their constituencies 
in a public representative capacity. They had 
each acted upon " implied powers." As in the 
Convention of 1787, at Philadelphia, so at Ver- 
sailles, in 1789, the delegates were called upon 
to decide whether they would obey the literal in- 
structions received. A majority in each of these 
popular assemblies decided that it was their duty, 
as representatives, to consult the interests, in pref- 
erence to the opinions, of their constituents. Ed- 
mund Burke had more than once, in 1774-80, 
taken the same exalted ground before the electors 
of Bristol.^ Indeed, when the States-General were 

1 " Your representative owes you not his industry only, but his 



THE INDIVIDUAL. 25 

summoned to meet together at Versailles, nothing 
was contemplated beyond a consultation on the 
state of France. A constitution was not dreamed 
of, and its solemn acceptance by the king was a 
vision that had not arisen before the wildest fancy. 
Talleyrand was among the foremost in the mak- 
ing of that constitution. Jefferson was then the 
American Plenipotentiary to France, and a fre- 
quent spectator of the proceedings at Versailles. 
America had set an example concerning the duty 
of representatives, which, perhaps, was not without 
its influence. When the delegates were appointed 
to Philadelphia "there was no expectation on the 
part of any State that any other principle would 
be adopted as the basis of action than that by 
which the Articles of Confederation contemplated 
that all changes should be effected by the action 
of the States assembled by the unanimous assent 
of the different state legislatures." But the Amer- 
ican delegates gave to their instructions a broader 
purpose by interpretation, and claimed, by infer- 
ence, a corresponding authority. They esteemed 
it safer to be faithful to the object of the trust, 
and not mechanical reflectors of impulsive senti- 
ment ; to have the determination of public ques- 
tions follow, not precede, debate. This was the 

judgment ; and he betrays, instead of serving you, if he sacrifices 
it to your opinion." — Burke's Works, vol. 3, p. 232 ; his Speech 
on the Conclusion of the Poll (1774). 



26 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 

way they spoke and acted at Philadelphia, and 
at Versailles. Hamilton and Talleyrand had thus, 
each independently of the other, concurred in the 
fundamental axiom of the essentiality of " implied 
powers." It is the key-note to the progress and 
history of the American RejDublic. In the due oc- 
currence, or chance, which brought these two men 
into the active, responsible administrations of the 
governments of their countries, there is a striking 
coincidence. The picture does not lack comple- 
tion even in its mere accessories of circumstance. 
Colonne, Minister of Finance, desired Mirabeau to 
draft a paper on the finances of the country. Mir- 
abeau declined ; but he directed the attention of 
the minister to Talleyrand : " You have stated to 
me the regret you experienced at my unwilling- 
ness to devote my feeble talents to the embodying 
of your conceptions. Permit me, sir, to point out 
to you a man more deserving, in every respect, of 
this proof of confidence. The Abbe de Perigord 
unites great and tried abilities to profound cir- 
cumspection and unshaken discretion. You will 
never find a man .... who possesses more the 
capacity to conceive great designs, and the cour- 
age to execute them." Washington, forming his 
first cabinet, applied to Rcbert Morris, the famous 
financier of the revolutionary and confederate 
epochs, to undertake the duties of the Secretary- 
ship of the Treasury ; he declined, but named 



THE INDIVIDUAL. 27 

Hamilton "as the one man in the United States " 
fitted by studies and ability to create a public 
credit, and to bring the resources of the country 
into active efficiency. Washington found, in his 
former military secretary, the one thing most 
needed ; the fiscal affairs of the nation at once 
were organized, and prosperity quickly came. 
Hamilton achieved therein an immediate suc- 
cess which, all agree, is without parallel. 

Talleyrand felt in France that a destructive tem- 
pest was coming, and, admonished, he procured an 
appointment on a mission to England to elude its 
direct effects ; he was, nevertheless, proscribed by 
his own country ; he was ordered, by direction of 
Pitt, under the alien law, to depart from Great 
Britain within three days. He had known Pitt, in 
his youth, when he was, during a short stay, the 
guest at Paris of the Bishop of Rheims, an uncle 
of Talleyrand's; but he thought it indelicate to 
remind the supercilious minister of the former ac- 
quaintance.-^ Nowhere in Europe could the pro- 

'' During the first interview between Pitt and Talleyrand, when 
the latter was on his first mission to England, in 1791, he thought 
it was Pitt's place to recollect their former acquaintance, — for 
which reason Talleyrand did not mention it. Pitt, who did not 
wish for any renewal of intimacy, did not even allude to the circum- 
stance, nor speak to him about his uncle. Talleyrand did not for- 
get the incivihty in after life, and when Austerlitz was fought and 
won he came nearly consummating a European league, of which 
England was to be the hostile objective point. That plan pro- 
posed to Napoleon at Ulm was found, in Talleyrand's own hand- 



28 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 

scribed and excommunicated Perigord find a safe 
refuge; so, in 1794, he departed for America. 
There he remained until the decree of proscrip- 
tion was, in September, 1795, revoked. Talleyrand 
and Hamilton soon met, of course. Their friend- 
ship is not a mere episode, but constitutes a prom- 
inent chapter, in their memoirs. Hamilton was 
then Secretary of the Treasury in Washington's 
administration. He had done the great work of 
his public life ; redeemed the financial honor of his 
country ; established its public credit ; and set in 
motion the springs of its abundant and many 
sources of prosperity. He was in the thirty-sev- 
enth year of his age — Talleyrand was but three 
years his senior. Hamilton spoke the French lan- 
guage fluently, with correctness, and fine expres- 
sion. Each was master of a language common to 
both. Hamilton's ruddy, vivacious countenance, 
inviting confidence, was in notable contrast to the 
other's pale repose j but the fascination of Talley- 
rand's bland and polished manner was irresistible 
for Hamilton. Talleyrand's experience of remark- 
able men was great and varied. He had met Vol- 
taire when the philosopher of Ferney came for 



writing, among his secret papers, after his death. Napoleon had 
other ambitious views, and neglected the project. The Talleyrand 
of 1830-38 had a changed policy, and desired a close friendship 
between England and France. The reciprocal visits of the sov- 
ereigns at Windsor and St. Cloud were among the results of that 
policy. 



THE INDIVIDUAL. 29 

the last time to Paris. The young Abbe was 
enchanted with the keen inteUigence and subtle 
speech of that supreme scoffer of the eighteenth 
century. He was received in a darkened cham- 
ber, and through an opening in the curtains it was 
so arranged that a single stream of subdued light 
fell upon the seated, draped figure of Voltaire. 
The light fell on him alone. It was the Rem- 
brandt effect. The genius of philosophy in chiaro- 
oscuro} Talleyrand's susceptible vein of satire was 

^ Voltaire was much given to the coup de theatre. The familiar 
scene in the Academy of Science (April 29, 1778), is graphically 
described by John Adams, who was there among the spectators. 
" Voltaire and Franklin were both present, and there arose a gen- 
eral cry that M. Voltaire and M. Franklin should be introduced to 
each other. This was done, and they bowed and spoke to each 

other But this was not enough. The clamor continued 

until the exclamation came out, ' II faut s'embrasser k la Frangaise.' 
The two aged actors upon the great theatre of philosophy and fri- 
volity then embraced each other, by hugging one another in their 
arms and kissing each other's cheeks, and then the tumult sub- 
sided. And the cry immediately spread throughout the kingdom, 
and I suppose throughout Europe, ' Qu'il dtait charmant de voir 
embrasser Solon et Sophocle ! ' " " When the American philoso- 
pher," says Condorcet, " presented his grandson for his benedic- 
tion, ' God and Liberty,' uttered Voltaire, ' the only benediction 
suitable for a grandson of Franklin.'" — FranklMs Life (Bige- 
low's edition), vol. 2, p. 431. 

When the writer of this essay was at Ferney, Switzerland, in 
the summer of 1870, he noticed on the wall of the chamber in 
which Voltaire died an engraved likeness of Franklin. All things 
in that chamber remain as at the time of Voltaire's death, and that 
engraving retains its place among the portraits of the distinguished 
men whom he liked to honor even in his household. 



30 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 

touched ; but he wondered at the colloquial power 
of Voltaire. That wonder was not elevated nor 
tempered by respect. He early became captivated 
by the companionable qualities, discriminating 
taste, and superb intellect of Hamilton. Hamilton, 
in truth, was a revelation to Talleyrand of a higher 
degree of human nature, and brought to his recol- 
lection afresh the impressions of Mirabeau and of 
Charles James Fox. He found in Hamilton one 
who was, also, as preeminently as himself in his 
own famous social sphere, the first of conversa- 
tionists. While the sparkling mots of Talleyrand 
flew from lips to ear with the applause of delight- 
ful excitement, it was always the strong sense of 
Hamilton's that lodged his animated thought into 
the very mind, and there induced reflection. Each 
was distinctively a gem — yet alike. As the sin- 
gle drop of pure dew resembles its crystallized 
similitude, the diamond, so did the clear intellect 
of Hamilton resemble that of Talleyrand. The 
one, full of life and lustrous — the other, fixed and 
brilliant. Talleyrand, notwithstanding this dry 
intellectual quality, was probably capable of deep 
moral feeling and as sensitive as Hamilton, If 
Talleyrand were, indeed, the ideal of attractive in- 
sincerities and elegant deceptiveness, which gossips 
of the salons have represented him to be, he could 
have felt little pleasure in the frank, ingenuous 
nature of Hamilton ; nor could the latter have so 



THE INDIVIDUAL. 31 

given himself to a devious-minded, artful, plausible 
diplomatist prone and skilled to circumvent and 
deceive. It will yet surely be entirely disclosed, 
when the seal of the secret memoirs of the Prince 
is broken and they are unfolded, — as they are 
promised to be within the next fifteen years, — that 
the judgment pronounced in the House of Lords 
by the Duke of Wellington will be verified and 
approved.^ His real character and his agency in 
the great affairs of his time will not be fairly 
known until they are seen as drawn by his own 
hand. 

The personal individuality of Talleyrand is a fa- 
miliar historical portrait. His features were hand- 
some and refined ; soft blue eyes, much veiled by 
the lids, contributed to an air of quiet reverie, 

^ In answer to remarks which fell from Lord Londonderry, Oc- 
tober, 183 1, concerning Prince Talleyrand, the Duke of Welling- 
ton said that none of the great measures resolved upon at Vienna 
and Paris had been concerted or carried on without the interven- 
tion of that eminent person. " In all the transactions in which I 
have been engaged with Prince Talleyrand, no man could have 
conducted himself with more firmness and ability in regard to his 
own country, or with more uprightness and honor in all his com- 
munications with the ministers of other countries, than Prince Tal- 
leyrand. No man's public and private character has ever been so 
much belied as those of that illustrious individual." Lord Holland 
added that no man's private character had been more shamefully 
traduced, and no man's public conduct more mistaken and misrep- 
resented, than that of Talleyrand. His behavior towards the 
American Commissioners at Paris, in 1797-98, will be likely to 
receive consideration in a subsequent part of this essay. 



32 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 

which, being habitual to him, was popularly mis- 
construed for an indication of natural secretive- 
ness and politic scheming; and this habit blended 
and was in harmony with the pensiveness and aris- 
tocratic delicacy of his complexion. The defect 
of lameness was not readily observable in his 
handsome figure and graceful demeanor. Would 
not the pen of a Walter Savage Landor have had 
a felicitous labor in depicting the probable confer- 
ences of these two characters in an " Imaginary 
Conversation ; " one that would have won our ad- 
miration as that fabled between Talleyrand and 
Louis XVIII. moves us to contempt and mirth. 
The respect and friendship of Talleyrand for Ham- 
ilton always continued ; and, when the former was 
permitted to return to his native land, he called 
upon Hamilton to say adieu. Seeing on the man- 
tel-piece a miniature of the American Secretary, 
he took it in hand and requested it for a souvenir. 
Hamilton was not free to give it ; so Talleyrand 
borrowed it, and had a verisimilitude painted in 
France, which yet keeps its place on the walls of 
the home of the Talleyrands. It is that portrait 
which has been engraved, and is known as the 
Talleyrand miniature. It represents Hamilton in 
the civic costume of the time, with hair pow- 
dered, ending in a cue ; and it bears a likeness to 
the celebrated bust by Cerrachi. There is an 
anecdote connected with this miniature which Tal- 



THE INDIVIDUAL. 33 

leyrand related to Mr. Van Buren during the last 
evening they spent together in London. " Burr," 
said the Prince, " called in pursuance of a pre- 
vious communication from him, and his card being 
brought up, he directed the messenger to say that 
he could not receive a visit from Colonel Burr, 
and referred him, for an explanation of his refusal, 
to a painting hanging over the mantel-piece in 
the ante-chamber, which was a portrait of Hamil- 
ton." Talleyrand frequently spoke his high opin- 
ion of Hamilton's genius. He had, before he went 
to America, learned much of him ; his renown had 
reached Versailles. A translation of " The Fed- 
eralist " appeared in Paris in 1792. Talleyrand, 
therefore, expected to find in him one who was 
deeply versed in all questions relating to general 
government, and its bearing on American repub- 
licanism ; but he did not expect to find in him a 
comprehensive and penetrating intellect which had 
pierced through and through the very substance of 
the politics of Europe ; and grasping the entire 
controversy that was about to make Europe one 
immense battle-field, upon which its giant frame 
should sink down exhausted by the paroxysm. 
He laid bare the subject with marvelous power 
of simplification. "One day in January, 18 19, 
talking with Prince Talleyrand, in Paris, about 
his visit to America, he expressed the highest 
admiration of Mr. Hamilton, saying, among other 
3 



34 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 

things, that he had known nearly all the marked 
men of his time, but that he had never known 
one, on the whole, equal to him. I was most 
surprised and gratified," writes in 1854 the cele- 
brated George Ticknor, " with the remark ; but 
still, feeling that, as an American, I was in some 
sort a party concerned by patriotism in the com- 
pliment, I answered with a little reserve, that the 
great military commanders and the great states- 
men of Europe had dealt with larger masses and 
wider interests than he had. ' Mais, Monsieur,' 
the Prince instantly replied, ' Hamilton avait de~ 
vine I'Europe.'"^ Talleyrand repeated the same 
opinion to others ; and on some of those occasions 
mentioned the most exalted characters he had 
personally known as less in intellectual greatness 
than Hamilton.^ " When I was Minister of the 

1 Curtis's History of the Constitution of the United States, vol. 
2, p. 410, note. The word "divind" was a favorite one with Tal- 
leyrand. When on his death-bed books of devotion were brought 
to him, at his own request, one especially. The Christian Religion 
Studied in the True Spirit of its Maxims. " The recollections 
which you recall," said he to his spiritual adviser and friend, the 
Abbd Dupanloup, "are dear to me, and I thank you for having 
divined the place they have preserved in my thoughts and in my 
heart." 

2 " Le prince, qui fut son ami et qui vdcut avec lui durant son 
sejour en Amdrique, rdpondit k quelqu'un qui lui demandait quels 
dtaient les hommes les plus remarquables qu'il avait rencontres 
dans sa longue carriere : ' Je considere Napoleon, Fox, et Hamil- 
ton comme les trois plus grands hommes de notre dpoque, et si je 
devais me prononcer entre les trois, je donnerais sans hesiter la 



THE INDIVIDUAL, 35 

United States in England," writes President Van 
Buren, " I saw much of Prince Talleyrand, the 
French Ambassador at the same court, and en- 
joyed relations of marked kindness with him. In 
my formal visits to him we had long and frequent 
conversations, in which Hamilton, his acquaint- 
ance with him in this country, and incidents in 
their intercourse, were his favorite themes. He 
always spoke with great admiration of his talents, 
and during the last evening that I spent with him 
he said that he regarded Hamilton as the ablest 
man he became acquainted with in America, — he 
was not sure that he might not add without in- 
justice, or that he had known in Europe." 

What we wish to have noted is, that this master 
judge of men had accurately observed and cor- 
rectly valued that most peculiar quality of Hamil- 
ton's mind, which qualified him to "see consequents 
yet dormant in their principles." ^ To exhibit the 

premiere place a Hamilton. II avait devine I'Europe.' " — Ettide 
sur la Republique, par le Marquis de Talleyrand- Pdrigord, p. 192. 
^ Since writing the above the author has come upon the following 
passage in Mr. Curtis's History of the Constitution, vol. i, p. 410 : 
Hamilton's "great characteristic was his profound insight into the 
principles of government. The sagacity with which he compre- 
hended all systems, and the thorough knowledge he possessed of 
the working of all the freer institutions of ancient and modern 
times, united with a singular capacity to make the experience of 
the past bear on the actual state of society, rendered him one of 
the most useful statesmen that America has known. Whatever in 
the science of government had already been ascertained ; what- 
ever the civil condition of mankind in any age had made practi- 



36 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 

means which Talleyrand had for forming his opin- 
ion has been the chief reason why we have in- 
dulged ourselves in making this parallel of indi- 
vidual history, and of their mental and moral 
characteristics.^ 

Guizot, also, had read and reflected much upon 
the writings and political acts of Hamilton; and 
he says that Hamilton "must be classed among 
the men who have best known the vital principles 
and fundamental conditions of a government ; not 
of a government such as this [alluding to the 
government of France at that moment], but of 
a government worthy of its mission and of its 
name." 

His writing was of the school of Bolingbroke, 
and reminds us of that which Edmund Burke 
was still capable of at the time when he wrote 
" Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discon- 
tents." The letters in " The Federalist " are the 
best examples of his style of written expres- 

cable, or proved abortive ; whatever experience had demonstrated, 
whatever the passions, the interests, or the wants of men had made 
inevitable, — he seemed to know intuitively. But he was no theo- 
rist. His powers were all eminently practical." Mr. Curtis's His- 
tory is a very lucid recital of the course of events which lead to 
the project and to the adoption of the federal Constitution, and is 
enriched with graphic sketches of the several persons who assisted 
in the great undertaking. 

1 Talleyrand was born at Paris in 1754, and died at the hotel, 
which still bears his name, in that city, Thursday, May 17, 1838. 
He outlived Hamilton thirty-four years. 



THE INDIVIDUAL. 37 

sion ; they are, also, the most highly esteemed and 
widely read. " ' The Federalist,' written princi- 
pally by Hamilton," says the " Edinburgh Review," 
No. 24, " exhibits an extent and precision of infor- 
mation, a profundity of research, and an accurate- 
ness of understanding which would have done 
honor to the most illustrious statesmen of ancient 
or modern times ; " and " Blackwood's Magazine," 
January, 1825, observes : " It is a work altogether, 
which, for comprehensiveness of design, strength, 
clearness, and simplicity has no parallel. We do 
not even except or overlook those of Montesquieu 
and Aristotle among the writings of men." Guizot 
said : " In the application of elementary principles 
of government to practical administration it was 
the greatest work known to him." Three trans- 
lations of " The Federalist " have been published 
in France ; but no edition, as yet, so far as we 
are informed, has been printed in Great Britain. 
" Vous avez lu ' Le Federaliste ' '^. " said Talleyrand 
to the Due d'Aranda, then the Envoy from Spain 
at the French court. " Non," replied the ambas- 
sador. " Lisez donc-lisez," added Talleyrand, with 
emphasis.^ But much as has been, and may be, 

^ The latest edition of The Federalist is that one edited by Mr. 
John C. Hamilton, a son of the statesman, and published by Lip- 
pincott & Co., of Philadelphia, in 1875. The Historical Notice, 
which is written by Mr. Hamilton, and prefaces the book, is careful, 
candid, and full, and supplies all that seems to be desirable to elu- 
cidate its history and aid in its study. 



38 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 

repeated concerning " The Federalist," it is the 
official advice, given by Hamilton, when Secretary 
of the Treasury, to President Washington, on the 
legality of a National Bank of the United States, 
in which he develops fully his doctrine Concern- 
ing the " implied powers " of that government, 
which will remain forever as the maturest monu- 
ment of his philosophy in the broadest domain of 
American political jurisprudence. Chief Justice 
Marshall is the judicial expositor ^ of the meaning 

^ " Trois noms se ddtachent en relief dans I'histoire, et sont ce 
que j'appellerai la clef de voute sur laquelle se construira le grand 
Edifice de I'Union am^ricaine. Ces noms sont ceux de Washing- 
ton, Hamilton, Marshall. lis ne sont pas choisis arbitrairement ni 
li la l^gere ; ce sont leurs actes, les faits eux-memes qui les portent 
en avant, qui les ddtachent en lumiere sur les autres, et font qu'ils 
attirent du premier coup de I'oeil I'attention de celui qui etudie 
I'histoire des colonies amdricaines." — Etude sur la Republique 
des ^tats-Unis d' Ameriqne, par le Marquis de Talleyrand-Perigord, 
p. i88. 

"John Marshall, chief-justice des Etats-Unis, fut I'homme qui 
entreprit ce long et difficile travail ; 11 sut I'accomplir avec una 
superiority telle qu'on peut sans hdsiter le comparer, pour I'erudi- 
tion et I'interpr^tation claire et prdcise des lois, au chancelier 
d'Aguesseau." — p. 190. 

In the foregoing extracts the younger representative of the 
house of Talleyrand, with its traditional intelligence and acute- 
ness, shows that he has discerned the true relation of Marshall 
to be that of the acknowledged expositor of the Constitution. The 
following extract from the same book, shows that he has formed a 
right conception of Hamilton : — 

" Ce fut au g^nie constructeur politique d'Alexander Hamilton 
que I'Amdrique doit sa constitution ; ce fut lui qui fournit les ma- 
tdriaux essendels, qui la composent. C'est k lui qu'elle doit le plan 
general de I'ddifice ; c'est lui qui dessina les lignes qui font de cette 



THE INDIVIDUAL. 39 

of the Constitution, and he ever esteemed the 
writings of Hamilton as the reasonable and safest 
guide in its interpretation. The judgments of the 
Supreme Court, especially when Marshall presided 
there, upon questions arising under the Constitu- 
tion, are commentaries upon the knowledge and 
wisdom of which those writings are the depos- 
itary. 

The elaborate report "nominally upon manu- 
factures, but embracing in its range every pursuit 
of human industry susceptible of encouragement 
under an unlimited government," was thought by 
President Van Buren to be " Hamilton's master- 
piece ; " and, he says, that by it " the subject was 
first brought to the notice, and recommended to 
the consideration of Congress." 

It must be within the scope of this study to treat 
of Hamilton as a jurist in the labors peculiar to 
the profession. For that side of his triple talents 
cannot be wholly passed by unnoticed. It will 
be remarked that his labors therein were akin to 

constitution un des monuments les plus remarquables de I'histoire. 
Grace k son energie, a son patriotisme, k sa merveilleuse intelli- 
gence et k son Eloquence, il parvint k dinger I'esprit public vers la 
necessity d'une union plus coherente, plus parfaite. Sachant faire 
taire les sentiments dgoi'stes des differents Etats, ils les amena d 
concourir k I'achevement du grand oeuvre. La constitution achevde, 
une chose restait k accomplir : il fallait donner une interpretation 
iudiciaire, claire, precise, et lucide de cette constitution dans les 
rapports constants qu'elle serait appellde k avoir avec les dv^ne- 
ments publics." — p. 190. 



40 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 

those of his political life, — the creative and or- 
ganizing faculty was ever industrious and produc- 
tive. Chancellor Kent, in an address which he 
delivered October 21, 1836, before the Law Asso- 
ciation of the city of New York, gives a sketch of 
this phase of the public life of Hamilton, whose 
marvelous power for continued labor and vigorous 
aptitude for deep research impressed the Chancel- 
lor from their first acquaintance. It was the cus- 
tom of Hamilton, he says, to " ransack cases and 
precedents to their very foundations ; " and that he 
did not content himself with anything less than 
going to the original sources ; that he was familiar 
with the great Civilians, and thoroughly imbued 
with the ample and comprehensive spirit which 
distinguishes their writings; and that he, pursuing 
with elaborate care, attained rich results by, "in- 
quiries into the commercial codes of the nations of 
the European continent."^ It is certain that, on 

1 The writer has been informed, but by whom he finds himself 
now unable to recollect, that Chancellor Kent was influenced by 
the urgent advice of Hamilton to give the special attention, which 
he did, to the works of the Civilians. The writer, when a boy, had 
the honor to be known to the Chancellor, and read to him in his 
room at William S. Johnson's law-offices, in New York, the copy, 
while the Chancellor corrected the proof-sheets for the third vol- 
ume of the third edition of the Commentaries. This was in 1841. 
The Chancellor was one of the most lively, charming, companion- 
able of men, and very loquacious. It may be probable that the 
writer was told at that time by the Chancellor how it was he gave 
such special devotion to the study of the civil law, although it 



THE INDIVIDUAL. 4 1 

the retirement of Chief Justice Jay, the office of 
the Chief Justice of the United States was offered 
to Hamilton, so high did he stand in the estima- 
tion of all as a lawyer. He declined the nomina 
tibn. His ambition and duty lay elsewhere in the 
public service. There are traditions which pre- 
serve an idea of his manner as a forensic advocate. 
They remind us somewhat of the manner which 
Brouo^ham describes as characteristic of Erskine. 
Animated reasoning, glowing, chaste diction, and 
forcible earnestness were the elements which 
marked their efforts at the bar. None of Hamil- 
ton's forensic speeches were reported in full. Even 
the speech in which he submitted, in the case of 
The People v. Croswell, the definition of a libel, 
punishable as a public offense, is onl}^ a skeleton 
of the chief points and of the general course of 
reasoning. That definition has been incorporated 
into the jurisprudence of the several States and of 
foreign countries, and in some of the States has 
been embodied in the constitutions. 

We have something to say of his manner of 
popular speaking. It was deliberate, sustained, and 
impassioned. Those who heard both have spoken 
of his manner as like that of the younger Pitt. 
But Pitt was cold, lofty, and declamatory. Ham- 
would have been for any one, besides that amiable, eminent man, 
an unusual topic to speak of to a mere lad. See Appendix A. 



42 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 

ilton was warm and genial, and considered the log- 
ical more than the mere rhetorical. Both, however, 
had the same weighty and authoritative air. But 
Pitt was not a great lawyer, nor, if Lord Macau- 
lay's judgment is to be regarded as sound,^ was 
he a great statesman. Tried by the standard of 
that age, he was a great man. That standard 
was in parliamentary government, which is de- 
scribed as " government by speaking." Pitt was 
surely a great " master of the whole art of parlia- 
mentary government." He domineered over the 
minds of his auditors. Legislation and adminis- 
tration were with him secondary matters. His in- 
feriority becomes obvious when he is compared 
with a Sully, a Somers, an Oxenstiern, a John 
De Witt, and, let us add unhesitatingly, a Hamil- 

1 "Very idle apprehensions were generally entertained, that the 
public debt, though much less than a third of the debt which we 
now bear with ease, would be found too heavy for the strength of 
the nation. Those apprehensions might not perhaps have been 
easily quieted by reason. But Pitt quieted them by a juggle. He 
succeeding in persuading first himself, and then the whole nation, 
his opponents included, that a new sinking fund, which, so far as it 
differed from former sinking funds, differed for the worse, would 
by virtue of some mysterious power of propagation belonging to 
money, put into the pocket of the public creditor great sums, not 
taken out of the pocket of the tax-payer. The country, terrified by 
a danger which was no danger, hailed with dehght and boundless 
confidence a remedy which was no remedy. The minister was al- 
most universally extolled as the greatest of financiers." — Article, 
"William Pitt," written by Macaulay, Encyclopedia Britannica, 
January, 1859. 



THE INDIVIDUAL. 43 

ton. These men were great as projectors of gov- 
ernment. Great in the closet, great at the council 
board, and some of them great in the arena of de- 
bate. Hamilton was a marvel of success in creat- 
ing a credit, and relieving his country from the 
burden of debt. Pitt was a failure in his financial 
system, and increased the public debt of England 
to such an incomprehensible magnitude, that his 
admirers are fond of mitigating the burden by de- 
scribing it as a public blessing. The habit of com- 
paring these two men, in all other mental respects 
dissimilar, has come from the attractive circum- 
stances of each having at so early an age been 
brought into the public service of' their countries ; 
each being, in a maturity of youth, the conspic- 
uous member of the administration of govern- 
ment ; and having a manner of oratory belonging 
to the same school. Hamilton was as great as 
Pitt in the control of the will of deliberative as- 
semblies. Hamilton, in common with Pitt, had 
that moral virtue inestimable for the talented and 
successful public man : he was known to be free 
from avarice and kindred dishonesty. Poor in 
the midst of abundance, and surrounded with the 
temptation of opportunity to get money, he neg- 
lected his own individual advantages, and dedi- 
cated himself to his country. This virtue his 
most adverse political foes admitted and admired. 
" Mr. Jefferson's habitual tone in speaking of Col- 



44 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 

onel Hamilton," wrote the Hon. Nicholas P. Twist, 
May 31, 1857, to President Van Buren, "was al- 
ways the very reverse of that in which he spoke 
of those whose characters, personal or political, 
were objects of his disesteem. It was invariably 
such as to indicate, and to infuse a high estimate 
of Colonel Hamilton, as a man, whether consid- 
ered with reference to personal matters or to 
political matters. As regards politics, their con- 
victions, their creeds, were diametrically opposite." 
And President Van Buren, for himself, speaks of 
" Hamilton's elevated character in private life : 
upon whose integrity and fidelity in his personal 
dealings, and in the discharge of every private 
trust that was reposed in him, no shadow rested, 
who was indifferent to the accumulation of wealth, 
who as a public man was so free from intrigues 
for personal advancement, and whose thoughts 
and acts in that character were so constantly di- 
rected to great questions and great interests." 
His health was impaired and nearly broke under 
the loads imposed by his public and private duties. 
Talleyrand was walking, late one night, past the 
small brick house in Garden Street, in the city of 
New York, where Hamilton kept his law cham- 
bers. He was, as usual, at work. The next day 
the Prince, calling upon a lady, said to her : " I 
have seen one of the wonders of the world. I 
have seen a man laboring all night for the support 




Mrs. Hamilton. 

Facsimile from a print in the possession of Mr. George H. Purser. 
Heliotyps Printing Co. Boston. 



THE INDIVIDUAL. 45 

of his family, who has made the fortune of a na- 
tion." 

The name and personal appearance of Hamil- 
ton were, at the epoch of the formation of the 
American Constitution, familiar to the American 
people. He was, as has been described to the 
writer by some that knew and one that loved him,-^ 
a small, lithe figure, instinct with life ; erect, and 
steady in gait ; a military presence, without the in- 
tolerable accuracy of a martinet ; and his general 
address was graceful and nervous, indicating the 
beauty, energy, and activity of his mind. A bright, 
ruddy complexion ; light-colored hair; a mouth in- 
finite in expression, its sweet smile being most ob- 
servable and most spoken of; eyes lustrous with 
deep meaning and reflection, or glancing with 
quick canny pleasantry, and the whole counte- 
nance decidedly Scottish in form and expression. 
He was, as may be inferred, the welcome guest 
and cheery companion in all relations of civil and 
social life. His political enemies frankly spoke 
of his manner and conversation, and regretted its 
irresistible charm. He certainly had a correct 
sense of that which is appropriate to the occasion 
and its object : the attribute which we call good 
taste. His manner, with a natural change, be- 

1 Catherine V. R. Cochrane, the sister-in-law of Hamilton, and 
youngest daughter of General Schuyler. She spent the latter 
years of her life at Oswego, N. Y. 



46 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 

came very calm and grave when " deliberation and 
public care " claimed his whole attention. At the 
time of which we now speak particularly (1787), 
he was continually brooding over the State con- 
vention then at hand ; moods of engrossing 
thought came upon him even as he trod the 
crowded streets, and then his pace would become 
slower, his head be slightly bent downward, and, 
with hands joined together behind, he wended his 
way, his lips moving in concert with the thoughts 
forming in his mind. This habit of thinking, and 
this attitude, became involuntary with him as he 
grew in years. 

Such was the individuality, personal, intellec- 
tual, and moral, of the man. He who was the ar- 
chitect and organizer of the new frame of govern- 
ment. It has been imputed that he managed the 
affair in water too deep for others. True. Not, 
however, in a deceitful or objectionable, but in a 
wise and masterly, sense. He knew well that in 
deep waters shallows and dangerous rocks are best 
avoided. It is only in our own times that a war 
for that Union has enabled us to really fathom the 
depth of his intentions and comprehensive policy. 



CHAPTER II. 

INTRODUCTORY. 
OF THE INDIVIDUAL. 

Hamilton was ever conspicuous above his fel- 
lows.^ He was not a type, nor the fruit, of the 
age which produced the American RepubHc. 
That age stands alone, and was peculiar and orig- 
inal. Yet therein lay the material with which, 
" when smoothed and shaped and fitted to its 
place," perfect wisdom built the fabric of the new 
government. Let us observe these circumstances. 
They affect the career of him whose history we 
write. In the requirements of that age the soar- 
ing genius of Hamilton found congenial work. 
Few of the influential colonists had personal am- 
bition. When they took office and honors it was 
because these came to them in the road of duty. 
Hamilton was ambitious. While he was still a lad 
of fourteen years he had written [November ii, 
1769] to another lad named Edward Stevens, " My 
ambition is prevalent, so that I contemn the grov- 

1 "Whoever was second, Hamilton was first." — J. M. Mason, 
D. D., in his oration, 1804. 



48 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 

eling ambition of a clerk, or the like, to which my 
fortune condemns me, and would willingly risk my 
life, though not my character, to exalt my station. 
I . . . mean to prepare the way for futurity ; " and 
he concludes by saying, " I wish there was a war."^ 
The cause of the colonists opened a path of glory 
for this ambitious spirit, and the principles of the 
contest commended it to his understanding and 
honor. Its motive and its justice lifted it above 
the ordinary level of insurrection. It was a deco- 
rous, firm, though at last armed, resistance, under 
the sanction and in support of the principles of 
English liberty. The chosen leaders of the colo- 
nial cause of that epoch, [i 761-1776] for accurate 
knowledge and profound thought in politics, were 
above the public men of European nations. It 
could not be said of that time, as it has been said 
of us in the present day by one of our most intel- 
ligent and friendly commentators, " that in no 
other country are there so few men of great learn- 
in 2^, and so few men of o^reat io^norance." ^ The 
people then were better read, for they reflected, 
upon subjects concerning their public affairs, than 
any other people of any other nation or time. We 

^ The Works of Hamilton, vol. i, page i. 

2 Buckle's History of Civilization in England, vol. i, pp. 240, 241, 
and De Tocqueville, De la Democratic en Amerique, vol. i, p. 91 : 
" Je ne pense pas qu'il y ait de pays dans le monde oil, proportion 
gard^e avec la population, il se trouve aussi peu d'ignorante et 
moins de savants qu'en Am^rique.' 



THE INDIVIDUAL. 49 

do not say more variously and eruditely — but 
better ; inasmuch as they knew that of which they 
read, and pondered it in their understanding. 
Those who founded the Dutch Republic and the 
United Netherlands come nearest in parallel. We 
would be inclined, were it permissible, to compare 
these colonists, " tried and tutored in the world," 
with that golden age of England, which, compre- 
hending the last half of the sixteenth century, gave 
to mankind new worlds in philosophy, eloquence, 
poetry, science, arts, settled the character of the 
English tongue, and showed in that tongue, as 
Dean Church observes, " the elements of a most 
powerful and flexible instrument of expression." 
The epochs are not similar — but the contrast 
would bring into full relief the undying benefac- 
tions conferred by each. 

In the means of general and universal knowl- 
edge, no former time can be named equal, in any 
considerable degree, to those of our own. The 
Newspaper now in reality performs the wondrous 
myth of the magician in the Arabian Nights, 
bringing before our mind's eye, in one assemblage, 
the transactions of the whole world. But its rich 
profusion stifles thought ; and the mind, as a mir- 
ror, appears to reflect in profound depths — while 
all is surface and unimpressed. It was not thus 
in the colonies before the Revolutionary epoch. 
Consciousness then had its perfect work. Those 
4 



50 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 

who were regarded as representative men saw and 
meditated upon the very science of government 
as it was exempHfied in the organization and 
development of the village communities. They 
observed, as well as read ; and fed on thoughts 
moved by their observation. 

The eleven years which immediately preceded 
that [1772] when Hamilton came to the province 
of New York, were years of intense feeling and 
of active discussions. There, and throughout the 
colonies, those discussions were on the most im- 
minent practical movements in political and eccle- 
siastical governance. It was not a debate or con- 
troversy merely. It was, on the part of the 
colonists, a serious, searching, conscientious exam- 
ination and deliberation. Those authors whose 
writings stood highest — those who had risen above 
advocacy of selfish interests — were most popular 
and authoritative. Edmund Burke emphasized 
the disposition and facility with which the Ameri- 
can intellect searched to the subtle nature of 
things. It was a time in which the writings of 
Hobbes of Malmsbury ; the " Oceana " of Harring- 
ton ; Sydney on Government ; the political tracts 
of Lord Somers, particularly that on " The Judg- 
ment of Whole Kingdoms and Nations ; " ^ the 

1 This pamphlet was reprinted and published (nth edition) at 
Philadelphia, in 1773. Its efiEect is very manifest in the formation 
of opinion among the leaders of the colonial resistance. There can 



THE INDIVIDUAL. 5 I 

works of Grotius, of Puffendorf, of Vinnlus, of 
Montesquieu, of Locke, of Vattel ; the " Patriot 
King " of Bolingbroke, and the Institutes of Justin- 
ian were studied. " In no country perhaps in the 
world was the law so general a study." ^ There 

be no doubt that its reprinting in this country was a part of the 
plan by which those leaders were diffusing political knowledge 
throughout the country. Somers has left an ineffaceable impress 
upon the ablest minds of America. Daniel Webster, speaking of 
the Lives of the Lord Chancellors, wrote to the late Lord Campbell, 
that he esteemed Somers the greatest constitutional lawyer that 
England had produced, and that he had read everything which he 
ever found and knew to be Somers' work. The title of this remark- 
able pamphlet is curious, and indicates the substance of its subject : 
The Judgment of Whole Kingdoms and Nations, concerning the 
Rights, Powers, and Prerogative of Kiftgs, and the Rights, Privi- 
leges, and Properties of the People; shewing The Nature of Gov- 
ernment in general, both from God and Man. An Account of the 
British Govermnent ; and the Rights and Privileges of the People 
in the Time of the Saxons and since the Conquest. The Govern- 
ment which God ordained over the Children of Israel j and that all 
Magistrates and Governors proceed from the People, by many Ex- 
amples in Scripture and Histoty ; and the Duty of Magistrates 
from Scripture and Reason. An Account of Eleven Etnperors, 
and above fifty Kings deprived for their evil Government. The 
Right of the People and Parliameftt of Britaifi, to RESIST a?id 
DEPRIVE their Kings for evil government, by King Henry'' s 
Charter J and likewise in Scotland, by matiy Examples. The 
Prophets arid ancient Jews were Strangers to absolute PA SSIVE 
OBEDIENCE. Resisting of Arbitrary Government is allowed 
by many EXAMPLES in Scripture j by tnost Nations; and by 
undeniable Reason. In the main hall of entrance to the Houses of 
Parliament the statue of John Somers has its place among the few 
that England has chosen from her wisely patriotic statesmen thus 
to honor. 

1 Edmund Burke's speech on Conciliation with the Colonies, 



52 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 

is an entry in the diaiy of John Adams which 
bespeaks that prevalent aptitude and tendency of 
national character. He notes, for his own guid- 
ance, " Labor to get distinct ideas of law, right, 
wrong, justice, equity; search for them in your 
own mind, in Roman, Grecian, French, English 
treatises of natural, civil, common, statute law. 
Aim at exact knowledge of the nature, end, and 
means of government. Compare the different 
forms of it with each other, and each of them with 
their effects on public and private happiness."^ 
This was in 1759. The disposition was growing 
general, almost popular. It begat in a few years 
a revival in the study of the science of politics 
as taught by the master-minds of Europe. Black- 
stone's Commentaries became familiar to the pe(v 
pie. The book had become so popular that the 
demand had to be supplied by colonial reprints ; 
and indeed a class, like that of those private gen- 
tlemen whose attention Blackstone endeavored in 
vain to get in England, and which he described 
as "the most useful, as well as considerable body 
of men in the nation," were in America his most 

March 22, 1775. Buckle, in his History of Civilization, vol. i, p. 
241, note 12, says: "Of this state of society, the great works of 
Kent and Story were, at a later period, the natural result." 

1 Life of John Adams, by his son, vol. i, p. 62. "A lawyer, 
said James Otis, "ought never to be without a volume of natural 
or public law, or moral philosophy, on his table, or in his pocket." 
^-Life of Otis, by Tudor, p. 10. 



THE INDIVIDUAL. 53 

enthusiastic and diligent students. Burke had 
observed, also, — what was the truth — that, after 
tracts of popular devotion, in no branch of the 
publishers' business were so many books as those 
on the law imported by the Plantations. The 
gentlemen of the law-profession itself, at this time 
in the colonies, were a race of jurists, the govern- 
ing influence of whose learning and wisdom will 
be seen in the grand labors which we purpose 
to set forth. They did not, as Macaulay, in his 
brilliant and misleading way, complains of Dr. 
Johnson's literary criticism, decide questions as a 
lawyer. They decided like legislators. The men 
of whom we speak, always examined to the foun- 
dations, even where the point was already ruled — 
their opinions did not indolently repose on as- 
sumption, though they might be able to quote 
precedent and authority ; but they gave a true 
reason by at least a necessary inference drawn from 
the nature of the thing.^ 

But we do not wish to pay special regard, just 
now, to any coterie or class, as such, of the colo- 
nists of this epoch. We desire to bring definitely 
before our contemplation the national features of 
the people at large, and of those men who were 
representatives of the form and pressure of the 
spirit and character of that epoch. 

^ Macaulay's Essays, vol. 2, p. 415,011 '■^ BoswelVs Life of fohn- 



54 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 

A new order of men, apt for the public life of 
such a revolution, and for the building of a new 
nationality, so it appears to us, came at this emer- 
gency into existence. They were men as great 
and as natural, as they seem new : arduous, ener- 
getic, patient, self-controlling, unyielding. They 
were not the product of the time — it was they 
who produced the age : its impulse and its pur- 
pose. They are to be ranked with the " chiefs of 
republics, who, in the birth of societies, form the 
institutions ; and those institutions, in the sequel, 
form the chiefs of the republic." -^ The history of 
the United States of America testifies to this phi- 
losophy. Those colonists endeavored, so that the 
liberties which they had inherited might be shel- 
tered from harm, guarded and defended, to unite 
the people of the several colonies by their common 
interests. The imagination of a grander idea was 
generated by imperious events yet in the future. 
Independence was not in their thoughts ; nor did 
separation from the mother country stand " within 
the prospect of belief." The irresistible stream, 
which was to bear away the old colonial fabrics 
and to leave the old constitutional foundations un- 
moved and free for competent structures in each 
State, had not begun to rise. 

It was not an age of, what is called, progress. 
It was eminently one in which existing rights 

^ Montesquieu's Grandeur et Decadence des Romaines. 



THE INDIVIDUAL. 55 

were secured and protected. Their common in- 
terest, in which the chiefs united, was to resist all 
that they believed innovating and harmful. They 
made a stand for, and at, that which was tried and 
had endured. It was their immutable and inalien- 
able inheritance. It was the birth-right of every 
natural subject of the English crown. That in- 
heritance was threatened again, and had been al- 
ready invaded, by the British ministry. The 
object of the colonists was, in the beginning, to 
recall and strengthen upon ancient legitimate and 
traditional grounds those principles of constitu- 
tional liberty ; and they wished to defer, if pos- 
sible avoid, all occasions for contention. They had 
forsaken their dear native land and their kindred 
to seek amid savages and rude, uncultured, physi- 
cal nature, that unconstrained freedom of con- 
science which Europe had denied. They had, as 
Montesquieu observes, " grown great nations in 
the forest they were sent to inhabit." The very 
modes of thought among the colonists of English 
descent were of the ripest and best English cast. 
Their affectionate love of motherland made them 
call whatever spot they settled upon by a name 
which echoed that of an ancestral home. They 
were proud of their national origin, and liked to 
proclaim, even ostentatiously, that pride. They 
had, with valor and success, contested the ascend- 
ancy of France in North America, and upheld, 



56 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 

and extended, and fixed, the dominion of the 
Englishry on the Western continent. Little did 
they dream that in that consummation lay the 
security for their future independence.^ Little 
did they think that in the peace with France, se- 
cured by their valor, would be found the opportu- 
nity to tax America. When, at length, the neces 
sity for a revolution came, the chiefs, representing 
truly the general opinion and needs of the col- 
onists, did for them that only which Somers had 
done for the people of England. The influence 
of Somers' authority in the formation of Amer- 
ican opinion was great and is manifest. Passive 
obedience found in this great lawyer and legisla- 
tor one before the beams of whose piercing and 
enlightening intellect and patriotism the mists of 
that enervating phantom faded away forever from 
the English mind. Obedience sinks into servility 

1 The Earl of Chatham " insisting on the retention of Canada — 
which, if it had been left in the hands of the French, might have 
proved an effectual check on the rebeUious projects of the Ameri- 
can colonists — in preference to the islands, which France was 
willing to cede to England, was, at the time, a matter of surprise to 
many. M. de Vergennes used to mention it, as one of the greatest 
political errors that had ever been committed." — The Reminis- 
cences of Charles Butler, vol. i, p. 156. By the peace of Paris, 
in 1763, Canada on the north, and Florida on the south, were 
ceded by France and Spain, respectively, to Great Britain. Soon 
after the acknowledgment of the independence of the United 
States of America, in 1783, these powers meant to redress the er- 
ror of Chatham. See post, pp. 133-135. 



THE INDIVIDUAL. 57 

when it ceases to respect itself. These colonists 
considered, besides, that allegiance was due to the 
king personally — not to an administration, nor 
to a parliament in which they had no representa- 
tive. In addition to which principle the fact was 
that the charters had been given by the king alone 
to the colonies. So, they discovering no relief 
coming from the ministry nor from the Parlia- 
ment, appeal was finally made directly to the Sov- 
ereign. The constitution of England proclaimed 
that he was "the fountain, the distributor, of jus- 
tice," " the fountain of honor," " the arbiter of 
commerce," — in a word, their "king." The ap- 
peal was not heeded. The king was not their 
king.^ He allowed, more likely advised, arms to 
be used to enforce the illegal measures of the 
ministry. By such conduct, in the judgment of 
the colonists, the king had already absolved them 

^ Blackstone' s Com., vol. i, pp. 267, 272, 273. " Our word 
cyning, king, is common to all the existing Teutonic tongues, and 
we find it as far back as we can trace the English language. . . . 
The word kin we still keep in modern English with very little 
change of meaning. Now the word cyning, in its shortened form 
kiitg, either comes straight from the substantive cyn, or else from 
a close connected adjective cyne, noble, just like the Latin gene- 
rosus irom genus, which, let me add, is the same word as our Eng- 
lish cyfty .... as ing is the Teutonic patronymic, any one that 
chooses may thus form cyning from cyn, and make the king not the 
father of his people but their offspring^ — Freeman's Growth of 
the English Constitution, pp. ^s, 56 ; and his Norman Conquest, 
vol. 3, p. 623. In the simplest name we often find written the na- 
ture and uses of the thing; itself. 



58 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 

from all personal allegiance to him. They pro- 
ceeded upon analogy to the Revolution of 1688. 

But behind this analogy there was the natural 
legitimate right of resistance to illegal measures 
coming from ministry or Parliament, which was 
the traditional faith of all these colonists of every 
creed and every clime. Concerning this we shall 
hereafter have proper occasions to sufficiently elab- 
orate.^ These men believed that there were recip- 
rocal duties, and that the misconduct of a king 
may release a people. It had done this for the 
English, when James II. left the throne by a 
constructive abdication. But they indulged no 
disputes regarding doctrines such as the original 
contract between king and people, or any other 
speculative contrivances to account for those prin- 
ciples and forms of political society which have 
their fresh springs and controlment in the econ- 
omy of natural necessity, convenience, growth, and 
perfection. And they, likewise, repudiated the 
shallow and spurious claim of passive obedience. 

The great characters who really guided public 
affairs and led to the establishment of the Amer- 
ican Republic were not wild and enthusiastic the- 
orists — they sought fact and the philosophy of 
example whenever and wherever they moved in 
the mighty work which they undertook. Erratic 
imaginations were checked. The heat of zealots 

1 S&tpost, pp. 79-93. 



THE INDIVIDUAL. 59 

was chilled in the colder, clearer, drier intellect- 
uality of those who gave shape and motion to the 
colonial proceedings. Such minds, calm and earn- 
est, had no taste to masquerade and strut as Plu- 
tarch's men ; ^ nor to speak a language unknown 
to their simple sires. It could not occur to them 
to new name Spring, the Floreal ; nor the glorious 
fall of the year, with its carnival of leaves, the 
Fructidor. The old ways were to be their ways, 
as they had been those of their fathers. They 
clung to the constitution and laws of England 
as the paternal great charter of their liberties, 
against parliaments and kings. They never strayed 
into the alluring mazes of the " eternal rights of 
man," nor presupposed the unhistorical and un- 
natural doctrine of " The Social Contract." The 
latter was instinctively rejected as " chimerical 
and unsupported by reason or experience,"^ and 
its pernicious influence never ran into the more 
decorous forms of American politics. To them 
liberty " was not a phrase or an hypothesis, but a 
living fact," in the light of which they had learned 
the reasonableness of restraint by prescribed law 

^ Plutarch's characters were the favorite models after which the 
French revolutionists of '93 fashioned themselves, and to affect to 
see a resemblance in other's thoughts and aspirations was an ac- 
ceptable form of compliment. " You are one of Plutarch's men," 
was said to Napoleon, in his early years, by General Paoli. 

2 The Rights of The British Colonies Asserted and Proved, by 
James Otis, Boston, 1764. 



6o ALEXANDER HAMILTON, 

and the efficacy of obedience. They had learned 
how " a free people gladly pays obedience to those 
laws which its conscience has recognized as the 
best expression of social and political justice." ^ 
Such laws were theirs. Lawless and uncertain 
fancies are not among the lessons which the 
American Revolution taught Europe. The de- 
structive doctrinaires of France were not the 
progeny of American liberty. Compare even the 
Girondists with the public men of the American 
Revolution, and the Girondists lessen in the com- 
parison. Phocion was not more above the influ- 
ence of the mob — nor the energy and discretion 
of William the Silent more commendable. 

This steady and elevated temper attracted, at an 
early stage of development, the attention of the 
most eminent statesmen in Europe. Many of 
them believed, and proclaimed in the face of the 
world, that the colonists were right, and their 
resistance prudent and decorous. The resistance 
was acknowledged as a vindication of English 
liberty made by America in her own interest, but 
in its necessary and immediate effect, protecting 
Great Britain herself.^ These characteristics of 

^ Canon Liddon. 

2 " In order to defend the attempt to destroy the liberties of 
America, principles were laid down which, if carried into effect, 

would have subverted the liberties of England The danger 

was so imminent as to make the ablest defenders of popular liberty 
believe that everything was at stake ; and that if the Americans 



THE INDIVIDUAL. 6l 

the revolt were indicated from its beginning in 
1661. At that time its seed was sown: it was 
then that James Otis spoke; and though he in- 
voked the law in vain, writs of assistance ceased 
to be issued. An enlightened public opinion nul- 
lified the false declaration of a false tribunal. The 
judgment went forth; but "without authority, and 
returned without respect." ^ The government were 
teaching the People their power. Two years after 
this the people of England adopted this precedent 
in the case of John Wilkes, and writs of assist- 
ance were judicially declared illegal, and ended in 
England also. These were the first fruits of the 
Revolution. The Stamp Act, in 1765, attempted 
taxation in America without representation. Pub- 
lic opinion, again, nullified an unconstitutional 
bill. The act was soon repealed by the Parlia- 
ment ; and, again, the People were taught their 
power. The liberty of the subject was revived in 
still another and more valuable right during this 
epoch. We allude to the right of trial by jury. 

were vanquished, the next step would be to attack the liberties of 
England, and endeavor to extend to the mother country the same 
arbitrary government which by that time would have been estab- 
lished in the colonies." — Buckle's History of Civilization in Eng- 
land, vol. I, p. 482, and note, 373, in which he cites the opinions 
of Chatham, Burke, Fox, and Dr. Jebb. The last thought that the 
war "must be decisive of the liberties of both countries." — Dis- 
ney's Life of Jebb, p. 92. 

^ Brougham's Speeches, — Exordium to Speech in Queen Caro- 
line's Case. 



62 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 

Andrew Hamilton, the venerable leader of the 
Philadelphia bar, came in the year 1735 to the 
city of New York, and there, on the trial of Zen- 
ger, declared the principle and doctrine, that, by 
the common law of England, the right to trial by 
jury was unquestionable and indestructible. The 
municipality conferred its city's freedom upon the 
triumphant advocate. Liberty and Law, at once, 
confirmed the People's voice ; and an era in the 
freedom of the Press, ever to be held in grateful 
remembrance in America, but especially in the 
British Isles, began. In making his superb foren- 
sic speech on the Dean of St. Asaph's trial, nearly 
half a century afterwards [1784], Erskine only re- 
peated in a more glowing style the arguments 
presented by Andrew Hamilton. These two 
instances were great vindications of ancient rights 
which had been allowed to fall into neglect, and 
perhaps contempt, in England. 

We shall have occasions to recur to these and 
like instances. Our present intent is fullfilled if 
we have shadowed forth the national temper and 
character, the intellectual capacity, aptitude, and 
disposition, of the colonists and of their chief 
men ; their originality of wisdom derived from a 
practical familiarity with the needs and resources 
of their condition. 

Within fifteen years of the time when Otis vin- 
dicated the law and liberty of England against 



THE INDIVIDUAL. A^ 

the incursion of writs of assistance, a war for in- 
dependence had become inevitable. The infant 
colonies were, in three eras of growth, — the revo- 
lutionary, the confederate, the constitutional, — to 
mature into the Republic. July 4, 1776, came. 
The United Colonies, in convention, at Philadel- 
phia, declared with one consent, in the name and 
by the authority of the People, that all allegiance 
and political connection between them and the 
British crown had totally ceased ; and that the 
United Colonies assumed, as independent and 
free States, their place among nations as a nation. 

The war to maintain that declaration of inde- 
pendence and nationality was fought. By years 
of toil and sacrifice it was won. But it did not 
make nor leave the United Colonies a nation ; 
except in the presupposition which, by a sort of 
theory, enabled them to act as such in their first 
diplomatic negotiation with England. 

It was on January 20, 1783, that peace was con- 
cluded. The American commissioners had loosed 
themselves from the surveillance of the Count de 
Vergennes and settled upon the preliminary con- 
ditions with the British agents in a manner cred- 
itable to the wisdom and, as then appeared, the 
honor of both nations. Indeed, the dislike to 
have France act directly or indirectly in that nego- 
tiation, guided as she then was by the ambitious 
Vergennes, who had ulterior views of his own to 



64 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 

chiefly serve, was shared by the Enghsh statesmen 
of all parties, as well as by the monarch himself. 
John Jay sympathized in this disposition of the 
English, from something he had heard from the 
French ambassador on their voyage together to 
Europe.-^ 

Jay acted on the information received, and this 
inclination coincided with the purpose of Lord 
Shelburne, then at the head of the colonial office. 
Shelburne wished to secure peace, or rather a truce, 
independently of the French intervention. Charles 
James Fox was the Secretary for Foreign Affairs. 
To his hands, as he supposed, the negotiation 
properly belonged. He was ignorant of Shel- 
burne's private, indirect, determination to take the 
matter into his own control, and of his secretly 
opening the subject to John Adams, at Amster- 
dam, the previous March. Fox was acting in his 
direct, frank, friendly way. Shelburne was aiming 
to deal with the States as distinctly colonies. The 
conduct of the States was encouraging uncon- 
sciously this project. Fox was advising that the 
negotiations be commenced by a recognition of the 
common independence of the United States. He 
was warm to an unusual degree, even above the 
customary license of Parliament. He continued 
to wear in the House of Commons what was be- 
ginning to be taken as the American uniform, buff 

^ Life of John Adains, vol. 2, p. 22. 



THE INDIVIDUAL. 65 

and blue ^ — that mode which many persons still 
living will remember as the usual dress of Daniel 
Webster on occasions of professional arguments 
and of public significance. 

It was early in 1782 that the dawn of peace 
began to be discernible. How could peace be ne- 
gotiated ? By the States in their form of confed- 
eration, or by each State for itself? It was a vital 
point for America. She claimed that it must pro- 
ceed with the Foreign Office of Great Britain, and 
not with that of the colonies. The question had 
been anticipated by a council held by the British 
ministry. The way advised by Fox was not agreed 
to. Rockingham suddenly died. Shelburne had 
the control now, and the administration decided to 
treat with the successful States as " revolted colo- 
nies," and only with those. By this, as it was 
hoped, several of the colonies would be induced to 
continue adherents of the crown ; and those others, 
by being apart, and their jealousies encouraged, 
would lapse into anarchy. The design was sure- 
ly not without grounds for expectation to such 
as knew of the mutual strifes among the States. 
Benjamin Franklin was resident plenipotentiary to 
France, John Jay had left his mission to Spain, 
John Adams his at Holland, and Henry Laurens 

1 Prior's Life of Burke, vol. i, p. 353. Burke declined to adopt 
this uniform as his ordinary dress in Parliament, and did not wear 
it except solicited to do so. See Appendix B. 
5 



66 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 

had come especially from the United States to as- 
sist in these negotiations of peace at Paris. Ham- 
ilton was requested to go upon that special mission. 
He declined, for he knew that a greater duty for 
him was at home. The Count de Vergennes had 
advised these commissioners to accede to the Shel- 
burne proposal. Those sagacious men declined 
to act on the weak, if not selfish counsel ; and 
they insisted that the United States were no 
longer colonies, but were a free and independent 
nation ; and to be acknowledged and treated with 
as a nation. A recital of the details which accom- 
panied this discussion would not elucidate the in- 
tent of our theme.^ But the commissioners felt 
that the very idea of nationality in the negotiation 
of a treaty was desirable and necessary. To the 
English, the point was one of procedure merely. 
Not so to the United States. The negotiation 
finally went on with the Office for Foreign Affairs. 
Those and other statesmen were not deceived. It 
was better policy though, just then, to act upon the 
apparent, rather than to insist upon the real, fact. 
To the exterior world the United States presented 
the semblance of unity. Between the States them- 
selves it was scarcely acknowledged. The unity 
of the States in any national sense was an empty 

1 Vol. 3 of the Life of Lord Shelbtirne is about to be pub- 
lished. It should be very interesting in its history of the secret 
and devious policy of that minister during this period. 



THE INDIVIDUAL. 67 

theory. Pride, policy, and patriotism had nerved 

the American commissioners to insist on the ideal. 

But they knew, and intelligent people in Europe 

knew, that the thing itself did not exist. " To be 

' more exposed in the eyes of the world, and more 

\ contemptible than we already are, is hardly pos- 

' sible," were the words of anguish wrung from 

even the patience of Washington. 

Far otherwise was the effect of the American 
Revolution upon the imagination of the people 
generally in Europe. It fevered into false fancies. 
Those people had seen feeble, distant colonies, till 
then unknown, vindicate rights against a power 
upon whose dominions the sun never sets. The 
combat unequal, the success determinate. 

Peace had brought difficulties surpassing those 
of war. Those difficulties had become notorious. 
Even the people of Europe, of whom large num- 
bers had emigrated on the conclusion of the 
peace, began to see more clearly into the actual re- 
lation which affairs bore to each other. This and 
other disclosures came fully to pass before John 
Adams, in December, 1785, presented the memo- 
rial to the Court of St. James, urging a perfect 
compliance with certain articles of the treaty of 
peace. It seemed as if by the acquisition of in- 
dependence no substantial good results were to 
tollow. The Confederation was the only compact 
made " to form a perfect union of the States, to 



68 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 

establish justice, to insure tranquillity, and provide 
for the security of the nation." The epithet Union 
still commanded reverence, though not obedience. 
The public tranquillity was a portentous calm. A 
project for three confederate empires in America 
was beginning to be encouraged. Ambition was 
incited and nursed by the prospect of pronounced 
disunion. In the language of " The Federalist," 
"each State, yielding to the voice of immediate 
interest or convenience, successively withdrew its 
support from the Confederation, till the frail and 
tottering edifice was ready to fall upon our heads, 
and to crush us beneath its ruins." It was pro- 
claimed, and circumstances led to the belief, that 
the States had each achieved its independence for 
itself, — that the Confederation was a league offen- 
sive and defensive, but not a government. The 
States were unwilling to surrender that indepen- 
dence, and merge their existence into a common 
form, wherein each would lose its individuality, as 
water is in water. The general government held 
a barren sceptre. It could plead, but not enforce. 
It could give judgment, but had no means to exe- 
cute it. It was all head, and no arms. It could 
devise, but not perform. It could request the 
States, but not act upon the persons or property 
of the individual inhabitants. The State stood 
between the Confederation and the people. The 
general government had no fund, nor the power, 



THE INDIVIDUAL. 69 

in and by itself, to raise a fund. It had already 
borrowed and created public debts. They were 
due, and owing to domestic and foreign creditors. 
Yet the general government found itself without 
requisite authority to lay taxes, or, by imposts, to 
get in a revenue. The State governments sol- 
emnly declined to concede such powers, notwith- 
standing the pressure. A public credit of course 
could not exist ; no sort of valid assurance could 
be given to pay. Commercial jealousies and con- 
tentions among the States brought fearful bodings. 
Domestic peace was verily in danger. The gen- 
eral government, unable to respond to its vicari- 
ous liabilities, became the object of positive as- 
sault. The army clamored. The soldiers did not 
demand money, only that some reasonably sure 
provision might be made for ultimate payment. 
Congress was unable even to give this. The States 
refused to aid. The officers of the army, which 
had gone into winter quarters, pending the nego- 
tiations of peace, were about to meet, with hostile 
intent, to obtain redress. The veterans felt the 
neglect. Their heroic sacrifices had passed into 
history, but not into the hearts of their country- 
men. Their simple, honest understandings could 
not distinguish between the Confederate Congress 
and the controlling power of the States, so as to 
appreciate where the blame should not be im- 
puted. Washington, acting on the urgent advice 



^O ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 

of Hamilton, did not allow the proposed meeting 
to take place. He acted with characteristic firm- 
ness and decision, and summoned the general and 
field officers to assemble together, giving their 
consultation a regular authority and orderly ap- 
pearance. They assembled on Saturday, March 15, 
1783. General Gates, restored to his command in 
the army, as its senior officer, presided. Knox 
and Putnam were there. The latter had fought 
at Bunker Hill. Washington stood in the midst 
of his old companions in arms. The tableau is 
one of the most affecting in the history of the 
war. It was certainly at one of its most moment- 
ous crises. Washington had in the mean time 
been truly informed " that the army had recently 
determined not to lay down their arms until due 
provision and a satisfactory prospect should be 
afforded on the subject of their pay; .... and 
that plans had been agitated, if not formed, for 
subsisting themselves after such declaration." He 
read a prepared address. On one, and but on 
one, other occasion was his heart to be again so 
tenderly moved. He was unable to preserve his 
composure. Tears were obscuring his vision, and 
it was with difficulty he read. " Fellow-soldiers," 
he said, " you perceive I have not only grown 
gray, but blind in your service." Having finished 
the address he immediately withdrew, so as to 
leave the officers unembarrassed by his presence 



THE INDIVIDUAL. 7 1 

in their deliberations. They declared, without 
dissent, that they would "still place confidence in 
the justice of Congress and of their country." 
The impending storm was subdued. Washington 
wrote a letter to Congress appealing to its sense of 
justice. The appeal was to an empty, hopelessly 
bankrupt treasury ; to a Congress with no power 
to fill it; to States too jealous of a national gov- 
ernment to make the grant. The "justice " of the 
country slept on, undisturbed by any emotions of 
gratitude ; the claims of the soldiers were pushed 
aside, and then forgotten. The Continental Army 
ceased to exist. The troops returned to their 
poverty-stricken homes. Happy the patriot who 
falls upon the field of glory. Rather the death of 
Leonidas than the doom of Belisarius. 

Washington resigned, at Annapolis, Maryland, 
on December 23, 1783, into the hands of the Con- 
gress, the authority w^hich it had invested him with 
in 1775. He was saluted by nations as the Fabius 
and the Epaminondas of the age. Thebes fell with 
Epaminondas ; but the country of Washington was 
to endure, despite the troubles which were now 
clouding down upon it. The people of America 
had passed through two forms and stages in the 
course of their governmental growth. First, the 
revolutionary; second, the confederate; and now 
the third, the constitutional, was in its devel- 
opment. The uses of adversity never showed 



72 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 

sweeter nor more prolific of good. The passions 
of pride and selfishness in the dissociate States 
were^^mpelling them into that consolidation which 
they wished to escape. The parent idea of union 
could not be annihilated, nor its urgency be over- 
come. It had recurred again and again from the 
time when first the Colonies were planted. It was 
of the essence of American colonial life. The 
Colonies clung to it during the Revolution ; fit- 
fully and fretfully tolerated it during the Confed- 
eration. A constitution and a perfect union were 
among the things inevitable within the pressure 
of the circumstances. The Confederation had died 
out. In the southern States, when a blight comes 
over the cotton field and all seems destroyed and 
gone forever, the people there say, " it has died 
out to a stand." That, only, which is corruptible 
and perishable has gone : the living principle from 
which shall spring a new and prosperous crop has 
not perished. It will bloom again in renovated 
strength at the future season. It had but died 
out to a stand ; and that stand was made, in the 
sensitive economy of nature, at the vital part 
where the power of renewing lay in its concen- 
trated and imperishable energy. A beautiful an- 
alogy of Resurrection and Life. 

The Confederation had, indeed, died out. The 
energy from which a new, a great and adequate 
national government was to grow, lay treasured 



THE INDIVIDUAL. 73 

and secured amid that which appeared but decay 
and death. Hamilton intelhgently awaited its 
earliest and expected manifestation ; and then 
cultured it to a pristine health. The develop- 
ment of that parent idea of union will be related 
in the succeeding part of this historical study. 

Without the credit of a nation abroad, without 
the strength of a nation at home, the work for the 
new Constitution was begun and accomplished. 
A few, a very few, hopeful, earnest, and able men 
brought the blessing of good and national govern- 
ment upon the country. The general Convention 
at Philadelphia, September 17, 1787, had fulfilled 
its trust, and proposed for acceptance a constitu- 
tion of government for the States. The following 
are its introductory words : *' We, the people of the 
United States, in order to form a more perfect 
Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tran- 
quillity, provide for the common Defence, promote 
the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of 
Liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain 
and establish this CONSTITUTION for the 
United States of America." Hamilton is the 
author of that declaratory preface. 

Washington had presided at that general Con- 
vention. His patriotism again strengthened the 
hearts and hope of those who wished well to 
the new system for a union. It was to the char- 
acter of Washington, as it ever had been since 



74 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 

the efforts for independence and a republican form 
of government began, that the Nationalists turned 
when the cause of the Union grew weak. The 
country had no other single thing which was so 
sure to hold the confidence of all, and in whose 
presence passions subsided and jealous interests 
felt that they were safe. To be sure, there were 
other men. The men, whose talents and wisdom 
Chatham had compared to the choicest instances 
in history, had not all retired from public life. 
The places of those who had retired were filled 
by new men whose names were to become alike 
illustrious. Hamilton and Madison were of the 
latter. The political heavens were certainly aglow 
with lights throughout its widest space ; but each 
led its own host, and was conspicuous as the 
leader of a particular constellation. Washington 
stood alone ; less brilliant than others, but ever 
fixed in his place. The brightest stars are not 
the safest guide — the north star guides though 
others lead astray. 



CHAPTER III. 
THE FOUNDER OF EMPIRE. 



CHAPTER III. 

INTRODUCTORY. 

OF THE FOUNDER OF EMPIRE. 

An experiment of a new form of government, 
unknown to the science of politics, was to be tried 
in a new land and under new social conditions. 
Afar, alike, from the influence and pressure of un- 
republican systems, with over three thousand miles 
of stormy seas rolling between America and Eu- 
rope, the new experiment was to take its own un- 
embarrassed way. Those who ardently wished its 
success, and strove to ensure success, had reason 
not to expect it. They did not conceal their 
fears. The problem involved an expedient by 
which two governments might each be distinct- 
ively supreme within the same territory and over 
the same people. The proposition seemed a para- 
dox ; but the man who " divined Europe " had 
discovered a plan, in accord with a true republican 
system, by which the idea could be brought into 
practice, and such a duality work out the functions 
of good government within those novel circum- 
stances of conflicting interests and prejudices 
The " democratic " was to be placed under a re 
public. 



78 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 

The general government of the Confederation 
needed an inherently permanent capability to get 
means for its own support ; authority to regulate 
commerce between the States and with foreign 
countries ; to be strengthened throughout all its 
parts ; to have an executive chief, and to be en- 
abled to enforce performance of its legitimate 
mandates by due process of law. These powers 
were not simply convenient, but were found nec- 
essary to the continuance of the general govern- 
ment. This was not controvertible. Great bar- 
riers were in the path, and those barriers had first 
to be removed or reconciled before anything like 
a national Congress could be allowed the required 
authority. It was evident to some that, while the 
Articles of Confederation continued in existence, 
the authority would not be conceded by the States. 
Historical prejudices and the selfishness of local 
interests were against such concessions. Tra- 
ditional dread of centralized government ; tradi- 
tional dread of a hereditary aristocracy ; dread 
that a national legislature, if allowed full authority, 
might assert and act upon the repudiated doctrine 
of an omnipotence of Parliament ; dread that a su- 
preme general government might absorb, or even 
usurp in the guise of the public welfare, those 
local interests which the States were now able to 
maintain, and which the Confederation was meant 
to protect : — the concurrence of these several 



THE FOUNDER OF EMPIRE. 79 

causes contributed to bring out the ever recur- 
ring opposition to any measure for increasing the 
powers of the Congress ; especially, whenever the 
measure proceeded from the Congress itself. The 
successful, conclusive proposition, which, so far as 
the States were in the beginning concerned, con- 
ducted, by unpremeditated steps, to the formation 
of a new form of government, was, in the end, to 
come, as we shall see, from the States themselves : 
though grudgingly and tardily. The nature and 
the history of those elementary impediments to a 
national union are interesting, and are, also, valu- 
able to our purpose, as they will disclose the spirit 
which had to be disciplined, subdued, and concil- 
iated. 

Many of the colonies in North America had 
a traditional dread of centralized government. 
They liked to dwell apart and for themselves. 
Encompassing danger impelled them to gather 
together ; they adhered to the common cause 
while the danger pressed upon them, and then fell 
back as they were before. 

The initiatory immigration into Virginia came 
out of a patriotic party in England, and was like 
an offering by the genius of English liberty, which 
may not have safely been risked at home, in the 
age of Elizabeth.^ The descendants, and many 

^ A searching, full, and accurate history of the several colonial 
foundations in America, is contained in the first volume, recently 



8o ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 

other successors of those early immigrants, pre- 
served and fostered their ancestral political bent. 
Huguenots composed the first body of men who 
came to America to find permanent habitations. 
Spaniards had destroyed their colony. A bold 
English attempt had been made by Sir Walter 
Raleigh and his adventurous consociates to rival 
the Spaniards in planting colonies in America. 
The salubrity of the climate, the richness of the 
soil, the lovely and superb nature of the varied land 
quickly caught their approving sense. Though 
Raleigh's attempts came to naught, his brilliant 
example encouraged others to prosperous under- 
takings. It is curious to reflect how his zeal 
against the extension of Spanish dominion was, 
at length, to furnish an excuse for, though not 
the immediate cause of, his own violent death. 
Huguenots continued, at different times, to take 
refuge, in great numbers, throughout many of the 
colonies, and their fearful anxiety fused with the 
anxiety of all others adverse to the doctrines tend- 
ing to centralization. 

Hollanders had settled (1629-1635) in that re- 
gion of country which became, under the English, 
the Province of New York ; and the City of New 

published, of the Popular History of the United States, written by 
William Cullen Bryant and Sydney Howard Gay. It satisfacto- 
rily fills an important place too long vacant in our standard litera- 
ture. 



THE FOUNDER OF EMPIRE. 8 1 

Amsterdam arose upon the island of Manhattan 
where the confluent waters of two beneficent rivers 
pour their deep and full stream toward the ocean. 
The chief island of its magnificent bays kept in 
the memory, by its name of " The Staaten Island," 
a durable memorial of the fatherland ; and, by the 
names which they gave to villages, these colonists 
indulged their filial love in a more special degree 
by such titles as New Dorp, and by calling the 
estuary that divides the island from the main 
shore the Kill von Kull ; and, likewise, where up 
the river its waters expand into the broader Tap- 
pan Zee. Along the banks and through the valleys 
of the Hudson, and those of the Delaware, and of 
other regions within those territories now known 
as Pennsylvania and New Jersey went the sturdy 
pioneers from the lowlands of the German Ocean. 
Throughout New York the Dutchman was still 
conspicuously active in promoting public affairs, 
of weight in counsel, and prominent in its high 
places of renown and honor, at the time when the 
Constitution for the new nation was about to be 
laid, in the summer of 1 788, before the Conven- 
tion to be held at Poughkeepsie. 

The revocation of the Edict of Nantes (Octo- 
ber, 1685) set a strong current of Huguenot im- 
migration into the Province of New York, and the 
town of New Rochelle, the Huguenot Park, and 
the peculiar Huguenot burial places in Westches 



82 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 

ter County, together with the patronymics of many 
of its principal inhabitants and pubHc men, be- 
speak the prevalence in that part of the province 
of a portion of the half million of people who were 
driven by the Edict from their native France, and 
who found open hospitable arms and permanent 
homes in the Electorate of Brandenberg and 
among the new plantations of the Western Hemi- 
sphere. These Dutch and Huguenots were of 
daring, enduring spirit and of stubborn material ; 
hard to shape and to render capable of entertain- 
ing schemes for a " solid union." These men 
were of an impassioned nature not to be violently 
encountered in matters concerning government in 
church or in state ; not to be reasoned with on 
those matters, for their opinions were colored and 
shaded in a resistful atmosphere of prejudice arising 
from sufferings and passions. Interest intensified 
and upheld that prejudice; and greater interest 
only could meet and disperse it. Tales and mem- 
ories of what had been done by Philip H. and by 
Louis XIV. were of a kind not likely to prepare 
the mind of either Hollander or Huguenot to ac- 
cept as true the assertion that strength in central- 
ized authority was beneficial to the people. This 
temper gained strength and increase from the in- 
fluence of the body of immigrants which came 
from Sweden, and in April, 1638, settled upon the 
banks of the Delaware River. The teachings of 



THE FOUNDER OF EMPIRE. 83 

Gustavus Adolphus, already sanctified to them by 
his death at the battle of Lutzen, warmed their 
principles and nerved their hearts. The pitcher 
had been broken,^ but the well from which were 
drawn freshening drafts was not dry at its abun- 
dant source. Ambition was not wanting to the 
purposes of the Swedish king. He fostered the 
hope that a colony of Swedes should take a place 
among those nationalities which were peopling 
" the new promised land ;" extending Swedish do- 
minion, and opening an asylum there for such of 
his countrymen as were wearied and broken by the 
earlier struggles of that most disastrous of wars 
which for thirty years exhausted the energies of 
Germany. Oxenstiern was mindful of this ambi- 
tious intention of his dead friend and kino^, and 
organized and sent forth the emigrants who came 
to the Delaware. They thrived and grew and 
strengthened, until their individuality, like that of 
others, became mixed in with those flooding waves 
of various popular immigrations, almost effacing 
the distinctive lines which once strongly marked 
the land, and which, embracing all together, com- 
pose the agglomerate people which were at length 
brought under the government of the new Re- 
public. 

^ Gustavus Adolphus loved to use homely proverbs. That most 
familiar with him was: "The pitcher goes often to the well, but it 
is broken at last." 



84 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 

The Puritans, more conspicuously those of the 
Colony of Massachusetts, had grown more and 
more averse to consolidated governmental power, 
no matter where it was lodged. Sir Henry Vane, 
when governor of that colony, could not induce 
them to inaugurate any " home rule " which com- 
bined with it an aristocratic element. Several 
English peers offered, if the General Council of 
Massachusetts was divided into two chambers, to 
take seats there, by their own hereditary right, and 
make a common government with the Puritans 
for the ancient colony. The dislike of those col- 
onists was not to the aristocracy as a political es- 
tate : the dislike was to its continuous and heredi- 
tary character. Puritans were not opposed to 
social and political gradations in the state. Their 
sublime poet declares in his grand harmonious 
numbers that 

"orders and degrees 
Jar not with liberty, but well consist." ^ 

A supplementary suggestion followed this made by 
Vane, to the purport, that, if the nobles were to 
lessen their estate to simply a life-tenure, its hered- 
itary character then being gone, the offer might be 
considered. The effect of this scheme was to limit 
the tenure of all kinds of pubHc offices in New 
England to very short periods. The inconven- 
iences and expense of frequent elections were es- 

^ Milton, Paradise Lost, book v., 792, 793. 



THE FOUNDER OF EMPIRE. 85 

teemed as nothing in comparison with the sense 
of security which resulted. This feehng has never 
departed from the people of America. Their con- 
fidence in the character of Washington and affec- 
tionate respect for his patriotism and public ser- 
vices reconciled them as to him, but as to him 
alone, when he was reelected, and when it was pro- 
posed to elect him for a third term.^ Jefferson 
looked upon the Constitution as radically defective 
in not prohibiting the reelection of the same per- 
son to the presidency. Hamilton believed that 
the continuity of the same person in the highest 
executive national office would give a needed sta- 
bility to the administration of government, and 
be more in accord with the principles of a repub- 
lican form, and as commended by its most ap- 
proved and illustrious instances. The Republic 
of Uri was such an instance. 

" A church without a bishop — a state without 
a king," was the thought underlying all their po- 
litical, social, and religious philosophy and action. 
Edmund Burke, when remarking that these peo- 
ple were Protestants, in his speech on Concili- 
ation with America, says, they are " of that which 
is the most adverse to all implicit submission of 
mind and opinion. I do not think that the reason 
"ijf this averseness in the dissenting churches, from 
all that looks like absolute government, is so much 

^ Marshall's Life of Washington, vol. 2, page 395. 



86 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 

to be sought in their religious tenets, as in their 
history." Indeed, during the revolutionary and 
confederative periods there was no executive chief 
to the general government. It was a league of 
States and a people without a common executive 
head. This deep-seated conviction, that any he- 
reditary rank and political estate, in which power 
and privilege may lodge, or secrete, were essen- 
tially inimical to the continuance of the liberty of 
the people, had, in a most violent manner, quite 
recently shown itself. The " Society of the Cin- 
cinnati " was organized in May, 1783, just after 
the close of the war. The officers of the disbanded 
army intended by it to keep alive, consecrate, and 
perpetuate the memory of sacrifices made and 
friendships perfected during that war. The honor 
of membership was to be hereditary and to de- 
scend to the heir as a cherished loom. Washing- 
ton had consented to be its President. Now came 
down upon the society a storm of alarm, indigna- 
tion and abuse, which did not spare even Wash- 
ing-ton. He and his fellow veterans in arms were 
innocent of any cause for offense. It was the in- 
cident of membership being hereditary that had 
aroused the dormant old prejudice. The society 
was stigmatized as a subtle design to introduce an 
aristocracy, subvert the republic, and institute a 
monarchy. Few occurrences had ever so excited 
violent passion ; voices, private pamphlets, and the 



THE FOUNDER OF EMPIRE. 87 

public press, all at once, denounced the society as 
a public enemy. Mirabeau thought the occasion 
so important that he entered into the conflict, and 
published in England a pamphlet on the subject 
of hereditary nobility, which he had in great part 
prepared at Paris before he left there in August, 
1785.^ It was full of eloquent condemnation, and 
had so much the approbation of Franklin that 
Mirabeau bore a letter from him, dated at Passey, 
to his friend Mr. Vaughan, commending the Count 
to the civilities and counsel of that gentleman, re- 
specting the printing of the pamphlet in London, 
as it could not be printed in France. 

The Congress of the Confederation was a single 
body; and, so, it was looked upon as neither a 
provident nor a safe custodian of supreme author- 
ity over sovereign States. It was best for the 
nation and for the States, many thought, that such 
single bodies should remain advisory councils. 
Besides this, the omnipotence of Parliament had 
become an intolerable doctrine to the people of 
America. " It had done its work and outlived its 
usefulness."^ The principles of the Revolution of 
1688 continued ever dear to them ; but the domi- 
neering height to which the supremacy of legisla- 
tive power had ascended in England since 1688, 

^ Memoirs of Mi}\ibeaH,hy Himself, vol. 4, pages 133-139. 
2 Bancroft's History of the United States, vol. 10, page 39. 



88 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 

far beyond a reasonable, prudent, and beneficent 
use, seemed a warning not to permit a like source 
of aggressive authority to be gained by the Con- 
gress. Blackstone's " Commentaries " had been 
widely read. It was known how rapid and luxu- 
riant was the growth of delegated power. " I have 
been told by an eminent bookseller," said Edmund 
Burke to the House of Commons, March 22, 1775, 
" that in no branch of his business, after tracts of 
popular devotion, were so many books as those on 
the law exported to the plantations. The colonists 
have now fallen into the way of printing them for 
their own use. I hear that they have sold nearly 
as many of ' Blackstone's Commentaries ' in Amer- 
ica as in England." These Commentaries amplify 
and affirm the opinion of Sir Edward Coke, that 
the power and jurisdiction of Parliament is so 
transcendent and absolute, that it cannot be con- 
fined either for causes or persons within any 
bounds. " It has sovereign and uncontrollable au- 
thority, .... this being the place where that ab- 
solute despotic power, which must in all govern- 
ments reside somewhere, is intrusted by the 
constitution of these kingdoms. All mischiefs and 
grievances, operations, and remedies, that tran- 
scend the ordinary course of the laws, are within 
the reach of this extraordinary tribunal. It can 
regulate or new model the succession to the Crown, 
as was done in the reign of Henry VIII. and Wil- 



THE FOUNDER OF EMPIRE. 89 

Ham III. It can alter the established religion of 
the land, as was done in a variety of instances, in 
the reigns of King Henry VIII. and his three chil- 
dren. It can change and create afresh even the 
constitution of the kingdom and of parliaments 
themselves. It can, in short, do everything that 
is not naturally impossible ; and, therefore, some 
have not scrupled to call its power, by a figure 
rather too bold, the omnipotence of Parliament. 
True it is, that what the Parliament does no au- 
thority upon earth can undo. ... It was a known 
apophthegm of the great Treasurer Burleigh, 
' That England could never be ruined but by a 
Parliament; ' and Sir Matthew Hale observes, this 
being the highest and greatest court, over which 
none other can have jurisdiction in the kingdom, 
if by any means a misgovernment should in any 
way fall upon it, the subjects of this kingdom are 
left without all manner of remedy. . .. . So long, 
therefore, as the English Constitution lasts, we may 
venture to affirm, that the power of Parliament is 
absolute and without control." ^ Whether this 
comment by Blackstone professes too much or not, 
is little to the purpose of our present inquiry. It 
was the doctrine taught by the most popular au- 
thoritative elementary law-writer of England ; ut- 
tered by him to the rising generation of students 
in the University of Oxford, and to the nobility 

^ Blackstone's Cofnmetitaries, vol. i, pp. 161-162. 



go ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 

and gentlemen of England, as late as 1758; and 
the colonists naturally accepted it as an exposition 
of the true nature of legislative power, when placed 
in any assembly with sovereign authority ; and it 
was the doctrine solemnly and ostentatiously pro- 
claimed and acted upon by parliaments whose 
acts immediately preceded and necessitated the 
final declaration of independence and separation 
from Great Britain, Yet, in the English legisla- 
tive plan checks and balances prevail. That miti- 
gating feature did not exist in the Congress of 
the Confederation. The colonists were opposed 
to all kinds of unchecked and sovereign power, no 
matter where it was lodged ; whether in a many- 
headed commonwealth, in a confederation of states, 
or in a monarch. They reflected upon the fact, 
also, that, in 1648, the House of Commons had 
asserted its independence of the Upper House ; 
determined to act as sitting in Parliament for their 
own behoof only, and as representing the commu- 
nity at large ; and resolved " that the Commons of 
England, assembled in Parliament, have the su- 
preme authority of the nation." The Commons 
thenceforth styled themselves, " The Parliament," 
and became the unrestrainable masters of the 
state.^ The two Houses of Parliament were at this 
epoch " invested with unlimited power, determin- 

1 Brodie's Constittitional History of the British E?npire, vol. 3, 
PP- 319-320. 



THE FOUNDER OF EMPIRE. 91 

able only at their own pleasure; and, in short, were, 
in their aggregate capacity, clothed with all the 
authority of absolute monarchy. Invested with all 
the legislative power, and entitled to appoint all 
public officers, they had a natural tendency to ad- 
vance their own greatness to the prejudice of the 
people, as well as to multiply jobs and places, that 
they might enrich and exalt themselves at the pub- 
lic expense Such was the natural tendency 

of this state of affairs ; and it is no answer to the 
objections, that the English Parliament at that time 
contained a number of patriots, who were prepared 
to make great personal sacrifices for the public 
benefit, since an institution must not be appreci- 
ated by the integrity of particular men ; and this 
assembly, with all its virtue, had neither escaped 
the imputation of selfishness, nor the consequences 
of the system." ^ And so it became that these col- 
onists had been by experience and by the philos- 
ophy of history educated to the principle not to 
trust their own affairs beyond their own immediate 
control. Federal and national legislative bodies, 
whether composed of two branches, each a check 
upon the undue acts of the other, or a single as- 
sembly unbalanced by a corresponding weight, 
were equally unacceptable to them. 

Then there was the unformed apparition of the 

1 Brodie's Constitutional History of the British Efnpire, voi. 3, 
p. 159. 



92 . ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 

public debt affrighting a nation of insolvents with 
dreadful forebodings, and driving them into dis- 
honesty. A power to tax was, they likewise knew, 
a power to destroy. Their sources of wealth were 
many and abundant ; " in proportion to their num- 
ber, more opulent than the people of France ; " ^ 
but their industries and trade were disorganized. 
The war had been carried on by the States inde- 
pendently of each other in several respects ; the 
debts incurred in its course were incurred in part by 
the States, in part by the Congress. The States 
had become liable directly to creditors and retained 
the claims unliquidated against the Confederation 
for any balance which might appear on the final 
accounting. But how and when to pay that bal- 
ance, or any other claim, foreign or domestic, 
always excited nothing but contentious debate. 
On this subject two great parties were forming 
already in every State at the time when the con- 
vention to consider of a new form of government 
was proposed. They were distinctly marked ; pur- 
sued distinct objects, with systematic arrange- 
ment.^ 

Such were the temper and character of the peo- 
ple of America, at that eventful epoch, — the eve 
of the constitutional era. Any new form of gov- 
ernment for the whole of the States in unity had 

1 Bancroft's Hist. U. S., vol. lo, p. 173. 

2 Marshall's Zz/^ of Washitigtoti, vol. 2, p. 103. 



THE FOUNDER OF EMPIRE. 93 

to encounter and conciliate that temper and char- 
acter, and prejudices traditional and deep down in 
the heart. These, first, had to be removed, that the 
other might be established ; and this could be ac- 
complished only when the need of a new govern- 
ment began to be felt by the people. 

There was another and more comprehensive ne- 
cessity which any project for a new effective gov- 
ernment would have to insist upon. An amend- 
ment of the Articles of Confederation w^ould not 
answer the public need. The vice was radical. 
A new system of government was the thing de- 
sired. It was a subject not to be mentioned just 
yet ; but other minds began to see what Hamilton 
saw in 1780 and of which he wrote to Duane. 
The idea would grow fruitfully if not forced. If 
able men could be brought together, in sessions 
not public, that object would, by candid, intelligent 
debate, develop itself into a conviction. A con- 
vention to consider of amendments to be proposed 
to the Articles of Confederation, might end, per- 
chance, in the proposal of a new Constitution and 
organization of government. This was to come 
in time. Those who were now cono^ratulatina: 
each other in successful efforts to thwart Congrress 
in its measures, were unconsciously making inevi- 
table the chief thing they abhorred. To be sure 
the danger to liberty that lies in a supreme author- 
ity when it is placed in a single political body of 



94 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 

men was an abstract principle not entirely discerni- 
ble by the people at large ; it did not enter into 
the prominent, active, and popular opposition to 
Congress. This danger, notwithstanding, was ever 
present to a few such men as Hamilton, and clearly 
indicated to them how futile and hazardous a mere 
amendment of the existing form of government 
would be. Though the refusals of the States were, 
at the time, lamented by good citizens friendly to 
an increase of the federal authority for its own 
national dignity and honest purpose, yet, before a 
long time had passed over their heads it was es- 
teemed fortunate, as Chancellor Kent has said, 
" that all the authority of a nation, in one compli- 
cated mass of jurisdiction, was not vested in a 
single body of men, and that Congress, as then 
constituted, was a most unfit and unsafe depository 
of political power." 

The attempts made before this one of 1787 to 
bring the colonies into a union for the national 
purposes of government had each failed of any 
permanent results. Let us consider the lessons 
taught by these several and independent attempts. 
They will teach us how much peoples and king- 
doms are indebted to adverse surrounding pressure 
for their prosperity and even national existence. 
Generally, by such immediate pressure of hostile as- 
sault or apprehended danger, requiring a defensive 
and offensive league for common protection, three 



THE FOUNDER OF EMPIRE. 95 

leagues were, at distant periods, formed ; and they 
went each to pieces when the danger was gone by. 
That of the colonies of Massachusetts, Plymouth, 
Connecticut, and New Haven, in 1643, was en- 
tered into in view of attacks from contiguous In- 
dian tribes, and as a protection from encroach- 
ments from the Dutch colony. That league is 
known in history as the United Colonies of New 
England. The management of its common affairs 
was entrusted to commissioners, each colony hav- 
ing two ; but no executive power was conferred 
upon the commission. It was to consult and 
recommend merely. This combination is to be 
regarded as the very root of the series of like ef- 
forts towards a union which followed. It lasted, 
with a few amendments in its articles of compact, 
for more than forty years. England looked with 
friendly disposition upon it, and it was dissolved 
only when, in 1686, the old charters of the New 
England colonies were superseded by the com- 
mission of James II. Congresses of Governors 
and Commissioners on behalf of other colonies as 
well as on behalf of those of New England, met, 
after that dissolution, to provide means to guard 
the frontiers of their interior boundaries. One of 
these Congresses met at Albany, in the Province 
of New York, in 1722 ; but another, which was of 
great importance in its consequences, and in its 
influence upon the minds of thoughtful men, was 



96 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 

held there in 1754. The object of the assembly 
was a bold, comprehensive, and well defined project 
for a continental union. Its urgent occasion was 
to defend those American colonists in the war 
with France which at that moment was at hand. 
Its project for a union was, nevertheless, rejected. 
The sagacious Benjamin Franklin was one of the 
members who were the authors of that proposed 
form for a union ; and many of the most eminent 
inhabitants of the colonies assisted in the delibera- 
tions. Thoughts were there liberated and freely- 
discussed which led to ideas that prepared the way 
for the future. While those discussions manifested 
a lively jealousy of the power and blandishments 
of royal associations, the general feeling was more 
conspicuously marked by a filial respect for Eng- 
lish principles of government. These colonists, in- 
deed, were emulating each other in duteous obei- 
sance to their mother country. But a strong tide of 
local policy, ambition, and rival colonial interests 
submerged those and all other considerations, and 
became more intense than before. Franklin said, 
in 1750, that loyal sentiments were so thoroughly 
in the hearts of the people that a union against 
England was absolutely impossible ; or, at least, 
without being forced by the most grievous tyranny 
and oppression. This feeling, though impaired, 
did not die out even during the Revolution, but 
lingered until the measures of the Shelburne ad- 



THE FOUNDER OF EMPIRE. 97 

ministration, succeeding the Peace at Paris of 
1 783, quenched it out for a long season. So failed 
the original attempt at a " Continental " Congress. 
The ideas, however, brought away from that con- 
sultation were beginning the work of the ultimate 
independence of America ; and the one thing 
which Franklin imagined might possibly force the 
colonies into such a union was now developing. 
This thing was the claim of the British Parliament 
to tax America without representation. The om- 
nipotence of Parliament was displayed. The right 
to tax was boastingly and offensively proclaimed. 
The attempt to enforce it by military aid aroused 
the colonists. Then a Congress of delegates came 
from nine of the colonies and, in October, 1765, 
met together in New York. A bill of rights was 
set forth in which the exclusive power of taxation 
was resolved to abide in their own several legisla- 
tures. Thus the road was aclearing for that more 
general and extensive association of the colonies 
which followed in September, 1774. This was 
the assembly since known as the first " Congress." 
Temperate and intelligent in all its proceedings, 
it commanded the attention and admiration of the 
enlightened world. Its conciliatory tone toward 
the English government and its intelligible char- 
actered position, claiming and demanding for the 
colonists the rights and liberties of English free- 
men, were most prominent and observed. It was 
7 



98 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 

hard to break the tie which held their hearts rather 
than their political allegiance. They ever spoke 
in the spirit of the British Constitution. Their 
declaratory resolutions asserted the inalienable im- 
munities common as a birthright to all natural 
subjects of the crown ; they specified the plan of 
violent measures which was preparing against 
those immunities, and they bound their constitu- 
ents by the most sacred bonds of honor and of 
country to renounce commerce with Great Britain ; 
that being, in their judgment, the better means 
whereby to secure the blessings of the former, and 
to arrest the assaults of the other. It was in this 
step that the epoch of the Revolution began ; and 
thus commenced the foundation for the conti- 
nental union of the colonies. The epithet came 
into popular use by this time that people were 
thinking " continentally." Again, in May, 1775, 
another Congress, in like mood and with similar 
purpose, met at Philadelphia. Invested with am- 
ple discretionary powers, it unmistakably indicated 
the courage and fixed purpose which prevailed. 
In truth, the war for independence had begun. 
Washino;ton was at the head of the Continental 
army. He was soon to be proclaimed Dictator. 
The history of the war itself has slight bearing on 
our special theme. 

It was not until December 15, 1777, that Con- 
gress could reconcile and unite the wary and de- 



THE FOUNDER OF EMPIRE. 99 

centralizing tendencies of the thirteen poHtical 
communities into the agreement which is ex- 
pressed by the Articles of Confederation. Those 
articles were submitted to the legislatures of the 
several communities ; declared to be the result of 
present and overwhelming necessity ; of a wish for 
reconciliation ; and that they were concurred in as 
the best that could be attained ; and not for any 
intrinsic excellence. The States came slowly in. 
One State, but only on condition, rejected the 
plan. The retentive power of local interests and 
local ambition did not freely provide even when 
the sea of trouble was rising near and strong. 

The government of the Confederation began ; 
that of the Revolution was superseded. The 
" discretionary powers " had been often used by it ; 
but under the new Confederation those powers were 
rapidly abridged, and Congress lessened into an 
inefficient council of advice, generally unheeded 
and ever powerless. A sense of incapacity be- 
came habitual, for Congress was mastered and nul- 
lified by the States ; sometimes by a single State. 
A repudiated public debt, the continued presence 
of the armed foe after the terms of peace had been 
concluded, hostile measures directly affecting in- 
juriously the industries and trade of the States : 
these adversities were to be the indirect forces by 
which " a solid republican government " was to be 
expressed. The efficacious pressure, as from the 



lOO ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 

first, in 1643, it had been, came once more from 
unfriendly foreign sources, and so induced a suc- 
cessful proposal for a union to proceed now from 
some States to Congress and again unsuccessfully 
from it to the States. The future Republic was 
truly sown in weakness, to be raised in power. 

To Alexander Hamilton history traces that par- 
ent thought which made the institution of " a solid 
republican government," for national objects, possi- 
ble. It was not a repairing and strengthening and 
expansion of the Confederation. A new system of 
government was to be set up and to be declared 
as established " forever." The expedient had never 
before been tried or heard of, so far as historians 
to the present time have been able to discover. It 
is said by publicists, that the history of the phi- 
losophy of politics from Aristotle down, shows 
no precedent or practical suggestion for the con- 
trivance. All preceding associations of republics, 
or of democratic States, were simply leagues. The 
quality peculiar to the idea that a duality of gov- 
ernments was adaptable to the States independ- 
ently, and, also to a consolidated union of them, 
must be accepted as the invention of Hamilton's 
creative mind. 

This idea was to bring about an era in the 
science of statehousehold applicable to a republi- 
can form of government. We prefer to use, in the 
like sense to which we are accustomed to the term 



THE FOUNDER OF EMPIRE. lOI 

political economy, that other composite word, itself 
of German descent, " state household : " an image 
clearly bodying forth the source, the direction, and 
proper objects of municipal communities and of 
nations. 4- The phrase acknowledges the " State " 
to be naturally an extension and amplification of 
the domestic household, and that all legitimate 
and natural government springs from its primal 
fountain, the family. It rises from families to 
communities, from villages to nations. As the 
members of a family have their relative duties to 
the family, so has each member, as a citizen, rela- 
tive duties to the state to which he owes a nat- 
ural or a local allegiance. In the first condition 
they constitute in their natural domestic group 
the family ; in the latter they constitute the state. 
The family was in order of time before the state, 
and the state is a combination of fathers and mas- 
ters for the better protection of themselves and 
families. Reason points to this as the probable 
origin of political communities, and history attests 
the fact of such origin. Like as the members of 
the family regard its chief and husband, domus 
vinculum} so does the individual citizen in his 

1 Although this etymology of the title husband may be specious, 
yet it presents to the understanding a most suggestive and beauti- 
ful image ; and as it has the authority of Spelman, and Francis 
Junius acknowledges it " sufficiently specious," the writer thinks 
ht is free to use the epithet in that sense. 

The name of Francis Junius suggests one other Francis and 



I02 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 

public capacity look to the state, though himself 
an essential constituent of it, as a supreme law 

"Junius." This is, we confess, aside from the direct way we are 
going ; but let us loiter a moment and take a glimpse into the at- 
tractive by-path. Perhaps it is one not more curious, and even 
less fanciful, than some which have engaged the searching skill of 
intelligent minds in the same pursuit of discovering clews which 
might lead to the detection of the famous writer, obscured in 
the shade of another's name. Stat nominis UDibra. Lucan's mean- 
ing — from which poet the celebrated motto was taken — is : "he 
(Pompey) stands the shadow of a (great) name." Did Sir Philip 
Francis (assuming him to be accepted now generally as the author 
of " The Letters ") venture so far as to hazard his detection by thus 
indicating that he, "Junius," was the son of Francis 1 Though the 
eminent critic's book was not popularly known in England, yet the 
very title to the most valued of the works of Francis Junius reads, 
" Franciscii Junii; Francisci Filii; Etymologicon Attglicanum." 
Is it a mere coincidence, or was the daring author with all his 
prudent circumspection, tempted, by the allurement of the device, 
toward the confines of exposure ? Francis Junius was a man of 
vast classical erudition, and a great traveller, a friend of Grotius, 
Salmasius, Vossius (his brother-in-law), and Archbishop Usher. 
He was born at Heidelberg about 1589: in 1630 he went to Eng- 
land ; died in his 85th or 86th year (1678) at Windsor, and was 
buried there. The University of Oxford, to which he bequeathed 
his manuscripts and books, out of gratitude, caused a Latin inscrip- 
tion to be placed over his tomb {Preface to PJiillimore's translation 
of Les sing's Laocoofi). The works of Junius were highly estimated 
by philologists in the times of George II. and of George III., and 
his volume on the Art of Painting among the Ancients, made him 
known to those who specially cultivated a taste for ancient litera- 
ture. Such a scholar was the father of Sir Philip Francis. It is 
no strain upon belief to infer that Philip Francis, senior, the trans- 
lator of " Horace," " Demosthenes," and " Eschines," author of 
the tragedies of the Eugenia and of Constantine, and of several 
political pamphlets, was quite familiar with these writings of Fran- 
cis Junius ; and that his brilliantly gifted son was nurtured in an 



THE FOUNDER OF EMPIRE. 103 

and civil governance. Herein we have, not only 
the special and local government within a family 
and limited to own affairs, but we have a gen- 
eral government comprehending and pervading 
throughout, all at once, the grand aggregate, su- 
preme in its unity and in its universality ; each a 
government bearing directly upon the individual. 
Herein arises the feasible and practicable system 
for a duality of government over the same territory 
and over the same people. In it we can see the 
first original of the principle which Hamilton had 
divined and which he was to apply to the several 
States in their independent operation and scope, 
and to the same States in Empire. He saw the 
consequent while it was yet dormant in principle, 
and he called it into existence and organization. 
Governmental institutions are not made ; they are 
a growth, and derive their nurture, character, and 
strength from the ground which bears them.^ 

intellectual atmosphere filled with refined learning, esthetic exer- 
cises, and spirited political dialectics. When that son, in the course 
of his political career, desired to shroud himself in a cloud of im- 
personal authorship, it would be natural for him to seek it in the 
shadow of a name great to him and associated with the cherished 
remembrance of his paternal home. All of this is digression, how- 
ever ; but not farther away than one on another circumstance of the 
same enticing topic to be found in a note to pages 87, 88, in the 
fourth volume of Macaulay's History of Englattd. 

1 God, " who created man, created in him, and with him, the 
rudiments of that government which is necessary for the simplest 
form of society. In the extension and enlargement of society, men 
are thrown more upon their own resources for the expedients of 



I04 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 

This idea of Hamilton first appears in a letter 
written by him to James Duane, an eminent mem- 
ber from New York, in the Continental Congress. 
It is dated September 3, 1780. The expedient 
was matured, and the letter was written, by Ham- 
ilton amid the stir of active war and " in the tented 
field." It contained, also, what is generally con- 
ceded to be, the very first project uttered in Amer- 
ica to found a national government by " a solid 
coercive union." Hamilton was then twenty-three 
years old. The previous year, likewise in camp, 
while the army was in winter quarters, he had con- 
ceived and perfected a mode by which public credit 
might be restored, and a change in the whole ad- 
ministration of public affairs effected. This he 
anonymously sent to Robert Morris, the financier 
of the government. These letters are notable, for 
in them we get at the principia of Hamilton's 
scheme for a republican form of a general govern- 
ment and of his process of finance ; each of which 
was destined to prevail and, for weal or woe, to 

government ; and in respect to these, God no otherwise ordains 
than as His overruling Providence directs. FamiHes and tribes 
combine themselves into one nation under a single head, or they 
vest the supreme power in the hands of the few or the many ; and 
hence the monarch, hereditary or elective, the oligarch}', the de- 
mocracy, etc., all which are the effects of human contrivance. But 
government, in its original or elementary form (which is patri- 
archal), is the more immediate operation of the Divine wisdom, 
\nd is stamped on Nature by the Divine decree." — Samuel Sea- 
Dury, D. D., on the General Divisions of Society, p. 74. 



THE FOUNDER OF EMPIRE. 105 

control American affairs in the near and, again by 
revival, in the distant future. — To be stigmatized, 
when Jefferson was in the ascendant, as inimical 
to the existence of the government ; to be over- 
borne in its chief feature, a national bank, by the 
executive daring of Jackson ; and to revive in each 
phase, with domineering spirit, and with full am- 
plitude of sway, under the administration of Lin- 
coln. " A virtue cannot really die. It may 
indeed be neglected, forgotten, depreciated, de- 
nounced ; but it cannot be absolutely extinguished 
by the verdict whether of a school of thought, or 
of a country, or of an age, or of an entire civiliza- 
tion. If, indeed, it be a virtue at all ; if it ever de- 
served the name ; if it was ever more than a 
strictly relative form of excellence ; then, assuredly, 
it is an imperishable force." -^ 

It is likewise notable that whether this youth 
sent forth his thoughts on these grand themes 
with his proper name or anonymously, they re- 
ceived ready attention from the ablest and most 
experienced statesmen of that time. The maturity 
and perfection of the very mechanism of these 
projects, which distinguish them from the day- 
dreams of speculative philosophy, appear incred- 
ible as the product of one so young. But, be 
it remembered, he was already known as Wash- 
ington's " principal and most confidential aid." 

^ Canon Liddon's Sermon on " The Law of Progress." 



I06 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 

Hamilton, in that letter to Duane, enlarges upon 
the defects in the Confederation of the States and 
suggests the practical remedies. The fundamen- 
tal, thorough imperfection, and the absence of in- 
herent vitality, we have seen. The remedies which 
he proposed were two : That the Congress of the 
Confederation should resume and exercise " the 
discretionary powers " which he believed to have 
been originally vested in it for the safety of the 
state. The other ; that Congress call immediately 
a Convention of all the States, with full authority 
to conclude finally upon a General Confederation, 
carefully stating beforehand, explicitly, the evils 
arising from a want of power in Congress, and the 
impossibility of supporting the contest as things 
are; and this to the end that the delegates may 
come, possessed of proper sentiments, as well as 
proper authority, to give efficacy to the meeting; 
that their commission should include a right of 
vesting Congress with the whole, or a proportion, 
of the unoccupied lands to be used as a means of 
raising a revenue; but allowing the political juris- 
diction over those lands to remain in the States. 
He confessed that the first remedy would be 
thought by Congress too bold. The habit into 
which Congress had fallen impressed too deeply 
into it a sense of its want of power. From disuse 
the existence of the power itself came to be denied. 

Hamilton had always been of the opinion that 



THE FOUNDER OF EMPIRE. 107 

the National Government was of undefined pow- 
ers ; that such " are discretionary powers, limited 
only by the object for which they were given : in 
the present case the independence and freedom of 
America ; " that " the sovereignty and independ- 
ence of the people began in a federal act : — The 
Declaration of Independence was the fundamental 
Constitution of every State ; " and that " the Union 
originally had a complete sovereignty " and " its 
constitutional powers not controllable by any 
State." Therefore, his first suggestion was that 
Congress should resume and exercise, without fur- 
ther concessions from the States, these " discre- 
tionary powers." ^ 

^ " In the interpretation of laws it is admitted to be a good rule 
to resort to the co- existing circumstances, and collect from thence 
the intention of the framers of the law. Let us apply this rule to 
the present case. In the commencement of the Revolution dele- 
gates were sent to meet in Congress with large discretionary pow- 
ers. In short, generally speaking, with full power 'to take care of 
the republic' In the whole of this transaction the idea of a union 
of the colonies was carefully held up. It pervaded all our public 
acts. In the Declaration of Independence we find it continued and 
confirmed A government may exist without any formal or- 
ganization or precise definition of its powers. However improper 
it might have been, that the Federal Government should have con- 
tinued to exist with such absolute and undefined authority, this 
does not militate against the position that it did possess such au- 
thority. It only proves the propriety of a more regular formation 
to ascertain its limits. This was the object of the present Confed- 
eration, which is, in fact, an abridgment of the original sover- 
eignty of Union." — Hamilton's Works, vol. 2, p. 353. 



Io8 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 

The scheme of government, and the scope of its 
necessary and convenient authority, as therein 
pointed out, had the maturing approval of his 
judgment during Hfe, and, as we shall see, were 
ever the controlling merits of all measures for 
which he afterwards contended. " Civil power," he 
reiterated, " properly organized and exerted, is ca- 
pable of diffusing its force to a very great extent, 
and can, in a manner, reproduce itself in every 
part of a great empire, by a judicious arrangement 
of subordinate institutions." The political history 
of the government of the United States, " in em- 
pire," during and, especially, subsequently to the 
war for the union, make clear and manifest the in- 
exorable logic of this proposition. 

The letter to Duane brought once more, but by 
a well defined, intelligible scheme, a project for a 
more perfect union before many men in authority. 
Conventions had been called and held. Nothing, 
as usual, could be effected by them. In January, 
1780, one was convened at Philadelphia in the 
hope that power would be delegated to Congress 
to lay and collect if only a revenue. The New 
England States, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Dela- 
ware, and Maryland were represented ; but not 
New York. Its governor, George Clinton, did not 
approve of it. The convention adjourned to Feb- 
ruary to await New York to meet other States; 
then further adjourned to April, when another 



THE FOUNDER OF EMPIRE. 109 

call was made for a meeting in August ; and then 
in August, the only States that appeared were 
Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Hampshire. 
The subject was ceasing to be interesting. The 
supplications of Washington and of Congress 
were falling on heedless and hostile dispositions. 
But, notwithstanding the discouragements, wise 
and instructive resolutions and addresses were is- 
sued from these conventions. Those words were, 
indeed, things. The education of the people, by 
several means, was going on. Hamilton, abating 
no jot of hope and heart, caught at all these symp- 
toms of a tendency towards effective union and 
adequate government ; helped to warm them into 
life-giving influence, and to spread them over the 
land. His pen was constantly busy, and during 
1781-82 he published "The Continentalist," in 
which he discussed, in his usual clear, full, and 
deliberative style, the state of public concerns and 
the remedies. On Tuesday, July 21, 17S3, the "V^ 
legislature of the State of New York passed a res- 
olution for a General Convention of the States. 
It had been drafted by Hamilton.^ He, with four 
of the most eminent citizens of that State, were 
appointed, in pursuance thereof, delegates to rep- 
resent the State in the United States Consrress 
for the ensuing year. But nothing practical came 
of it. Listlessness was settling down upon the 

^ Hamilton's Works, vol. 2, p. 203. 



no ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 

hopes and fears of the people. With the dawn of 
peace they sank to be more and more dormant. 
The anxious sohcitude, reasonably ehcited by the 
condition of pubhc interests, went Httle beyond the 
leading statesmen, and those more intelligent citi- 
zens sensitive to national honor. 

January i, 1783, Congress again issued an ad- 
dress to the States. It most earnestly set forth 
the facts and the urgent need of action. The 
facts and need were admitted to be as stated. 
But, argued those in opposition, good reasons 
must give place to better reasons ; the individual 
interest of a State is to be esteemed of primal and 
higher obligation. Citizens were, as we already 
mentioned, taking sides on the question, and the 
two parties began to gather and to take form. 
One body attached itself, as first in order of duties, 
to the State government, viewed all the functions 
of Congress with fear, and assented reluctantly to 
any measure which would enable that " head to 
act, in any respect, independently of its members." 
With a morbid candor they declared the real 
truth. The members, in a reversed order of 
nature, controlled and directed the head. The 
other party fondly contemplated America as a 
nation ; labored without ceasing to empower it 
with a national authority and force ; felt the value 
of national honor and of national faith ; and were 
persuaded that both were jeopardized, if the secur- 



THE FOUNDER OF EMPIRE. Ill 

ity and payment of the national debts, incurred in 
the war and for the independence of the nation, 
were now to be left, at the advent of peace, to the 
concurrence of the thirteen disjected States. The 
ofificers of the army, who by associating with each 
other, away from local influences, and whose ex- 
perience had given them bitter proofs not soon to 
be forgotten, sympathized with the national party. 
The states party was more numerous and pow- 
erful. The connections between a State and its 
own immediate citizens are ever more intimate 
and tangible than any possible with a general gov- 
ernment. It is only and simply by a mental op- 
eration that the mind can get near to an apprecia- 
tion of such a general sort of government, existing 
only in contemplation and as a maxim. It was 
neither seen nor felt. It was not capable of acting 
upon the inhabitants of a community, and not 
coming, like the state, in daily contact with them. 
It was while this Congress of 1783 was endeav- 
oring to reach some practicable conclusion that 
peace was made at Paris. Sensible that the char- 
acter of the government may be fixed definitely by 
the measures which should directly follow the 
treaty of peace, citizens of the very first political 
talents and high social reputation sought places in 
this Congress. With unwearied perseverance, and 
despite of all former failures and the absence of 
encouragement, they digested what they concluded 



112 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 

to be a feasible project, which obtained the ap- 
proval of Congress. The main object in its view 
was, of course, the, now more than ever, imme- 
diate and overwhelming one, " to restore and sup- 
port public credit ; " and, that this might be ac- 
complished, it was essential " to obtain from the 
States substantial funds for funding the whole debt 
of the United States." Hamilton attended this 
Congress. He had reached only the 26th year of 
his age. His services while there were many and 
important. He was planting and disseminating 
doctrines of a utilitarian polity. After several 
weeks of anxious and protracted consideration a 
project was matured. James Madison, afterwards 
fourth President of " The United States of Amer- 
ica," Alexander Hamilton and Oliver Ellsworth, 
afterwards Chief Justice, were appointed a com- 
mittee to prepare the address, which should ac- 
company the recommendation to the several States. 
Hamilton was the author of this address. It re- 
cited the defects of the government ; described and 
explained the project to meet the public debt; 
called upon the justice and plighted faith of the 
States to give it proper support, and to weigh the 
consequences of' rejection. The merits of the 
creditors' demands were again asseverated ; and 
the report ends by asking that it be remem- 
bered, " that it ever has been the pride and boast 
of America, that the rights for which she con- 



THE FOUNDER OF EMPIRE. 1 13 

tended were the rights of human nature. No 
instance has heretofore occurred, nor can any in- 
stance be expected hereafter to occur, in which 
the unadulterated forms of republican govern- 
ment can pretend to so fair an opportunity of jus- 
tifying themselves by their fruits. In this view, 
the citizens of the United States are responsible 
for the greatest trust ever confided to a political 
society. If justice, good faith, honor, gratitude, 
and all the other good qualities which ennoble 
the character of a nation, and fulfill the ends 
of government be the fruits of our establishments, 
the cause of liberty will acquire a dignity and lus- 
tre which it has never yet enjoyed ; and an exam- 
ple will be set, which cannot but have the most 
favorable influence on the rights of mankind." 

The toil of Washington, as the commander-in- 
chief of the army, was ended. Necessity drew the 
sword — victory sheathed it. He was on the eve 
of resigning that trust. The new effort by Con- 
gress had his deepest sympathy, and, as a parting 
advice forced from him by the critical condition 
of the country, he wrote a letter, and, on June 8th, 
1783, sent a copy to the governor of each State. 
It was replete with tender feeling, and instinct 
with sentiments of honor and patriotism, urging 
that this recommendation from Congress be 
adopted. An impression was made ; but momen- 
tary. It fell again on the rock, and took no root. 
8 



114 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 

Indifference, worse than active hostility, chilled the 
ardor of the cause. The decline of national worth 
had begun. The best men of America were of 
this Congress. Their work was despised, rejected; 
nevertheless, Congress did not give up, nor 
weary. 

In February, 1786, the revenue plan of April 
1 8th, 1783, was again brought forward. As that 
part of it concerning internal taxes was hopeless, 
the States, therefore, were requested to enable Con- 
gress, " to carry into effect that part which re- 
lated to impost, so soon as it should be acceded to." 
There was reason to believe that the impost might 
be secured. In the course of the year all the 
States, except New York, had granted as requested 
the impost duty. That State, certainly, had passed 
an act upon the subject, but that act did not give 
Congress the power to collect the money. It re- 
quired that the collections should be made by 
aeents of the State, amenable to the State alone. 
This non-conformity on the part of a single State 
to accede to the proposition suspended its opera- 
tion. Governor Clinton declined to facilitate a 
reconsideration by the legislature. Thus finally 
was defeated the labored, persistent e Torts of 
Congress to relieve and save the country's credit, 
its unity and honor. 

The traditional dread of centralized national 
government ; the traditional confidence in their 



THE FOUNDER OF EMPIRE. 1 15 

own Independent statehouseholds ; the policy of 
decentralization — were triumphant over all. The 
Republic was lost awhile. For a season, the Rev- 
olution seemed to be worse than in vain. But 
while the Western horizon was filled with the 
clouds and darkness of descending hope, on the 
opposite quarter of the heavens arose other beams 
that were struggling, in the cool of early dawn, to 
usher in the light of a new and perfect day. 

This last defeat was decisive and set adrift all 
that concerned the general weal of the country. 
Anarchy was apparent. It was felt profoundly 
and humiliatingly by those who desired to stay that 
downward course which was bearing vital public 
interests to utter annihilation. They wished to 
place the country as fairly as possible before the 
world. La Fayette was visiting the courts of 
northern Europe. He, writing to Washington, 
especially of what had occurred at the Court of 
Frederic the Great, said : " I wish the other senti- 
ments I have had occasion to discover with respect 
to America, were equally satisfactory with those 
that are personal to yourself ; .... by their con- 
duct in the revolution the citizens of America 
have commanded the respect of the world ; but it 
grieves me to think they will in a measure lose it, 
unless they strengthen the confederation ; give 
Congress power to regulate their trade, pay off 
their debt, or at least the interest of it ; establish 



Il6 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 

a well regulated militia ; and, in a word, complete 
all those measures which you have recommended 
to them."^ John Adams, then our Minister to 
the Court of St. James, wrote from London, to 
his relative, Dr. Tufts, these words : — 

*' As to politics, all that can be said is summarily- 
comprehended in a few words. Our country is 
grown, or at least has been, dishonest. She has 
broke her faith with nations, and with her own 
citizens ; and parties are all about for continuing 
this dishonorable course. She must become 
strictly honest and punctual to all the world be- 
fore she can recover the confidence of anybody at 
home or abroad. The duty of all good men is to 
join in making this doctrine popular, and in dis- 
countenancing every attempt against it. This 
censure is too harsh, I suppose, for common ears, 
but the essence of these sentiments must be 
adopted throughout America before we can pros- 
per." 2 

America had impaired its respect in Europe ; 
and those there, most friendly to her welfare, were 
ceasing, at last, to find excuses for her defaults. 
Washington retired, and seeking a much needed 
rest amid the shades of Mount Vernon, could not 
suppress an expression of his own mortification. 
He wrote : " The war has terminated most advan- 

1 Marshall's Life of Washington, vol. 2, p. 97. 
^ Life of John Adams, vol. 2, p. 125. 



THE FOUNDER OF EMPIRE. II7 

tageously for America, and a fair field is presented 
to our view ; but I confess to you, my dear sir, 
that I do not think we possess wisdom or justice 
enough to cultivate it properly. Illiberality, jeal- 
ousy, and local policy, mix too much in our public 
councils, for the good government of the union. 
In a word, the confederation appears to me to be 
little more than a shadow without the substance ; 
and Congress a nugatory body, their ordinances 
being Httle attended to. To me, it is a solecism in 
politics, — indeed it is one of the most extraordi- 
nary things in nature, that we should confederate 
as a nation, and yet be afraid to give the rulers of 
that nation, who are the creatures of our own mak- 
ing, appointed for a limited and short duration, 
and who are amenable for every action, recallable 
at any moment, and subject to all the evils which 
they may be instrumental in producing, — suffi- 
cient powers to order and direct the affairs of the 
same. By such policy as this, the wheels of gov- 
ernment are clogged, and our brightest prospects, 
and that high expectation which was entertained 
by the wondering world, are turned into astonish- 
ment; and from the high ground on which we 
stood, we are descending into the vale of confusion 
and darkness. That we have it in our power to 
become one of the most respectable nations upon 
earth, admits, in my humble opinion, of no doubt, 
if we would but pursue a wise, just, and liberal 



Il8 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 

policy towards one another, and would keep good 
faith with the rest of the world ; that our resources 
are ample and increasing, none can deny ; but 
while they are grudgingly applied, or not applied 
at all, we give a vital stab to public faith, and will 
sink in the eyes of Europe, into contempt." 
*W The downward course still continued. But an 
unseen influence of correcting power began to in- 
dicate its action upon the surface of events. Some- 
thing was at work which was to direct those events 
toward the great and fundamental change in the 
political system. That local selfishness, which 
neither the counsels nor supplications of assembled 
intelligence, patriotism, and virtue, the character 
of Washington, the sympathy of his valedictory, 
nor even the voice of honor itself could provoke 
to duty, was quickening into alarm. This redeem- 
ing genius came under the appearance of endan- 
gered Trade. English creditors had debts yet due 
them in the several States ; English troops yet 
stayed in possession of military posts within the 
United States; and — which produced more ex- 
tensive disquiet to the States than any other 
cause — Great Britain was acting upon a rigorous 
commercial scheme invigorated by positive legis- 
lation. The latter was pressing most heavily and 
disastrously upon the characteristic restless enter- 
prise and industry of the people. A retaliatory 
policy, compelling Great Britain to relax this rigor 



THE FOUNDER OF EMPIRE. 1 19 

by meeting it with commercial and navigation 
regulations equally restrictive, was suggested. 
Congress, however, could not act any further with 
effect upon foreign nations by again assuming 
with them, that the States were in effect a unit. 
The fiction had been dissipated. Its want of au- 
thority had become known. But the weakness of 
Congress was, at length, becoming the strength of 
the union cause. It had no power to regulate 
commerce either as to foreign powers or as be- 
tween the States. The jealousies of the States 
had not permitted them to agree upon a method 
capable, now in the moment of utmost need, of 
enacting such a retaliatory policy. As with all 
former combinations and leagues between the 
colonies and States, the pressure for adherence 
encompassed them from exterior circumstances. 
The interests of Trade triumphed over State Sov- 
ereignty. Converts from the mart multiplied to 
the conviction that a national central power was 
a necessity for the regulation of commerce. 

Meanwhile the United States representatives in 
Europe were endeavoring to negotiate commer- 
cial treaties. Commissioners had been appointed 
to that end. The trade with Great Britain and 
its West Indian colonies had a peculiar value. 
Troubles had followed the treaty of peace and 
serious consequences threatened. Mr. Adams 
had been transferred from the mission to Holland, 



I20 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 

and appeared at the Court of St. James, as Min- 
ister. He was failing to form a commercial con- 
vention there. Indeed, he ultimately failed in 
accomplishing any one of the great matters under- 
taken there ; and, at his own request, he was re- 
called in 1788.^ England had declined for the 
very reason that the Confederate Assembly of 
the " United States " had no power to secure the 
observance of a treaty. There could be no reci- 
procity of obligation. The ideal of nationality, 
upon which the peace had been predicated at 
Paris, was no longer admissible, after the cross 
purposes between the States and Congress had 
become so notorious. " We are one nation to-day, 
and thirteen to-morrow," Washington frankly con- 
fessed. " Who will treat with us on such terms } " 
Official information came that England would 
make no commercial concessions to the United 
States in their dismembered, dissociate, and con- 
tentious condition. The States were not a nation ; 
and, therefore, not capable of assuming the respon- 
sibilities of nationality. Mr. Adams, in accord with 
the duties of his official position, presented a me- 
morial to the British Minister for foreign affairs. 
It asked and urged a complete compliance on the 
part of Great Britain with the treaty of peace. The 
Marquis of Carmarthen acknowledged, explicitly 
enough, the obligations, created by that treaty, to 

^ Life of John Adains, vol. 2, p. 125. 



THE FOUNDER OF EMPIRE. 121 

withdraw the garrisons from all posts within the 
territory of the United States; but he insisted, that 
the obligation of the United States to remove 
every lawful impediment to the recovery of debts 
due by its citizens to English subjects was one 
of equivalent obligation : as correspondent and as 
clear ; and he added the assurance, " that, when- 
ever America should manifest a real determina- 
tion to fulfill her part of the treaty. Great Britain 
would not hesitate to prove her sincerity to coop- 
erate in whatever points depended upon her, for 
carrying every article of it into real and complete 
effect." The King, also, when the American Min- 
ister was taking his leave in 1 788, said to him : 
" Mr. Adams, you may with great truth assure the 
United States that whenever they shall fulfill the 
treaty on their part, I, on my part, will fulfill it in 
all its particulars." The imputation was felt to be 
humiliatinof and true. Not willinof to leave the 
matter there, the ministry seem to have had a 
disposition, with motives for certain future advan- 
tages, likely to arise from a continuance of the 
want of a common supreme government over the 
States,^ to increase the pain natural to minds sen- 

^ Benjamin Franklin writes from Passy, February 8, 1785, to 
John Jay : " I did hope to have heard by the last packet of your 
having accepted the secretaryship of foreign affairs, but was dis- 
appointed. I write to you now, therefore, only as a private friend ; 
yet I may mention respecting pubhc affairs, that, as far as I can 
perceive, the good disposition of this court towards us continues. 



122 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 

sitive to the claims of honor, and so the ministry 
affected a temper which was readily construed 
into an intentional affront. Mr. Adams said he 
met only " with that dry decency and cold civility 
which appears to have been the premeditated 
plan from the beginning." But, notwithstanding, 
Americans were not influenced by such indiscreet 
conduct into any sort of palliation or excuse for 
the short-comings of their own countrymen. They 
themselves saw, felt, and acknowledged the truth 
as it appeared at the time. We say, as it appeared 
at that time, for it was subsequently discovered that 
England herself was already in serious default, and, 
so much so, that, if it had become known, she was 
not at liberty to insist on the position which she 
took in relation to any non-fulfillment on the part 
of America of the articles of the treaty. When the 
first diplomatic plenipotentiary from Great Britain 
came to the United States, Mr. Jefferson, then the 
Secretary for Foreign Affairs,^ made that gentle- 
man acquainted with the mistaken ground which 

I wish I could say as much for the rest of the European courts. 
I think that their desire of being connected with us by treaties, is 
of late much abated ; and this I suppose is occasioned by the 
pains Britain takes to represent us everywhere as distracted with 
divisions, discontent with our governments, the people unwilling 
to pay taxes, the Congress unable to collect them, and many desir- 
ing the restoration of the old government. The English papers are 
full of this stuff, and their ministers get it copied into the foreign 
papers." 

1 The office since called the Secretary of State. 



THE FOUNDER OF EMPIRE. I 23 

his government had taken on this particular sub- 
ject, and seems to have convinced him that this 
was the true state of the case.^ We, however, are 

^ The famous state-paper of May 29, 1790, written by Jefferson, 
then the Secretary for Foreign Affairs under the Washington ad- 
ministration, clearly proved, and was tacitly admitted by Mr. Ham- 
mond, the first British Minister to the United States, as the newly 
discovered truth of the case, that "the treaty of 1783 was violated 
in England before it was known in America, and in America as 
soon as known, and that too in points so essential as, that without 
them, it never woiild have been concluded ; " and that " the recov- 
ery of the debts was obstructed validly in none of the States, indi- 
rectly only in a few, and that not till after the infractions committed 
on the other side." 

Perhaps it is well for us to remember, in apology for the popular 
dissatisfaction, that there were other views widely held, and at least 
with plausible argument in their support, discouraging the payment 
of such debts ; and though they did not prevail even with his asso- 
ciates, yet Franklin, who was in most friendly relations with Shel- 
burne, thought proper to propose and read the following to the 
Commissioners before signing the preliminary articles : — 

" It is agreed, that his Britannic Majesty will earnestly recom- 
mend it to his Parliament to provide for and make a compensation 
to the merchants and shop-keepers of Boston, whose goods and 
merchandise were seized and taken out of their stores, warehouses, 
and shops, by order of General Gage and others of his command- 
ers and oiificers there ; and also to the inhabitants of Philadelphia, 
for the goods taken away by his army there ; and to make compen- 
sation, also, for the tobacco, rice, indigo, and negroes, etc., seized 
and carried off by his armies under General Arnold, Cornwallis, 
and others, from the States of Virginia, North and South CaroHna, 
and Georgia ; and also for all vessels and cargoes, belonging to 
the inhabitants of the said United States, which were estopped, 
seized, or taken, either in the ports, or on the seas, by his govern- 
ment, or by his ships of war, before the declaration of war against 
the said States. And it is further agreed that his Britannic Maj- 
esty will also earnestly recommend it to his Parliament to make 



124 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 

not strictly considering the historical truth con- 
cerning the particulars of those transactions, but 
the effect of England's adverse course, and the 
effect of other circumstances, both interstate and 
foreign, whether real or supposed at the time to 
be real, which had a bearing in accelerating those 

compensation for all the towns, villages, and farms burnt and de- 
stroyed by his troops, or adherents, in the said United States. 

" Facts. — There existed a free commerce, upon mutual faith, 
between Great Britain and America. The merchants of the former 
credited the merchants and planters of the latter with great quan- 
tities of goods, on the common expectation that the merchants, hav- 
ing sold the goods, would make the accustomed remittance ; that 
the planters would do the same by the labor of their negroes, and 
the produce of that labor, tobacco, rice, indigo, etc. 

" England, before the goods were sold in America, sends an armed 
force, seizes those goods in the stores ; some even in the ships 
that brought them, and carries them off ; seizes, also, and carries 
off the tobacco, rice, and indigo, provided by the planters to make 
returns, and even the negroes, from whose labor they might hope 
to raise other produce for that purpose. 

" Britain now demands that the debts shall nevertheless be paid. 
Will she, can she, justly, refuse making compensation for such 
seizures .'' 

" If a draper, who had sold a piece of linen to a neighbor on 
credit, should follow him, and take the linen from him by force, 
and then send a bailiff to arrest him for debt, would any court of 
law or equity award the payment of the debt, without ordering a 
restitution of the cloth ? 

" Will not the debtors in America cry out, that, if this compensa- 
tion be not made, they were betrayed by a pretended credit, and 
are now doubly ruined ; first, by the enemy, and then by the nego- 
tiators at Paris ; the goods and negroes owed them being taken 
from them, with all they had besides, and they are now to be 
obliged to pay for what they have been robbed of 1 " — Diplomatic 
Correspondence, vol. lo, pp. 88, 94, 106. "Paper C." 



THE FOUNDER OF EMPIRE. 1 25 

causes which finally effected the union of the 
States, by urging the States themselves to move 
towards the formation of a more united and per- 
manent government. Indeed the sentiment among 
some of the leading public men bred in them a 
morbid moral excitement ; as, for example, when 
the celebrated Fisher Ames, of Massachusetts, a 
member of Congress, speaking of the want of faith 
with creditors, said, concerning the formal legal 
contrivances enacted to delay the collection of 
claims, that " Justice was iniquity reduced to ele- 
mentary principles ; " and that " in some States 
creditors were treated as outlaws ; bankrupts were 
armed with legal authority to be prosecutors, and 
confidence was forsaking society."-^ " Some of the 
facts," wrote John Jay to Washington, "are inac- 
curately stated and improperly colored ; but it is 
too true that the treaty has been violated. On 
such occasions, I think it better fairly to confess 
and correct errors, than attempt to deceive our- 
selves and others, by fallacious though plausible 
palliations and excuses. To oppose popular prej- 
udices, to censure the proceedings and expose the 
impropriety of States, is an unpleasant task, but it 
must be done." ^ 

^ Fisher Ames' Works, vol. 2, p. 27. 

2 The facts relative to this negotiation are stated in the corre- 
spondence of General Washington. The statement is supported by 
the Secret Journals of Congress, vol. 4, p. 329, and those which 
tollow. 



126 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 

These will be sufficient to show and distinguish 
the spirit in which the two governments were act- 
ing toward each other and in support of what each 
conceived the interests of their country. 

British policy or resentment at promises unful- 
filled, perhaps both operated in conjunction, were 
aiding the organizing demand in America for 
some government more national, more compre- 
hensive, and more powerful than any possible 
under the enfeebled Confederacy. 

A national party and a state party were now in 
full career. One to hold the people up to the 
performance of the grand task undertaken for their 
ultimate salvation, the other to deal with the ques- 
tion as that of mere practical and present interest. 
In the State of New York the contest between the 
two was to be most earnest and radical. It 
was to give a fresh beginning to principles for 
party strife which were to outlive the immediate 
occasion and strongly mark the future of the State 
and the nation. On that field Hamilton was to 
win the decisive battle for a new Republic. 

It was generally observed, also, that the feelings 
of admiration and respect and hope which had 
pervaded Europe for the American States had be- 
come sadly impaired. The effect of this was to 
sober the Americans into an understanding of 
their true relative position to the rest of the world 
and as between themselves ; and to teach them to 



THE FOUNDER OF EMPIRE. 1 27 

investigate and value the nature of the rich and 
abundant springs of prosperity lying within them- 
selves. England, unfortunately for herself, by her 
general conduct, and by her transcendent litera- 
ture more potent than all her other forces, led the 
era of unfriendly feeling with hurtful acts and an 
affected supercilious indifference. Between Amer- 
ica and her all this was to beget a mutual antipath)i 
and distrust which nearly three quarters of a cen- 
tury, and many interchanges of courtesy and kind- 
ness and social intercourse of cultivated minds and 
warm kindred hearts, were needed to mitigate and 
efface. George III., who, in 1785, received Mr. 
Adams with cheerful words approving his candor 
and independent manly patriotism,^ turned his 
back, in 1787, upon him and Thomas Jefferson, 
when they together came on a mission to negoti- 
ate treaties of commerce with England and other 
European powers. A slight, equally ill-timed and 
ill-mannered, which encouraged, at least in Jeffer- 
son, a studied contempt for kingly authority and 
office ; and intensified in him those sans culotte 
tastes, which blurred, sometimes, the republican 

^ No witness other than Lord Carmarthen, the official secretary 
of foreign affairs, was admitted to the initiative conference between 
the monarch and his recent subject. " I must avow to your 
majesty," finally added Mr. Adams, significantly, " I have no at- 
tachment but to my own country." The King quickly replied, 
" An honest man will never have any other." — See Life of John 
4. dams, vol. 2, p. loi. 



128 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 

simplicity of his true nature.^ The English Whigs, 
who, in 1774-75, were so enthusiastic for the con- 

1 Mr. Merry was the British Minister to the United States in 
1803. He thus related to the Hon. Josiah Quincy, of Massachu- 
setts, his first presentation as such minister officially to the Presi- 
dent, Jefferson : " I called on Mr. Madison (then Secretary of 
State) who accompanied me officially to introduce me to the Presi- 
dent. We went together to the mansion-house ; I being in full 
official costume, as the etiquette of my place required on such a 
formal introduction of a minister from Great Britain to the Presi- 
dent of the United States. On arriving at the hall of audience, 
we found it empty ; at which Mr. Madison seemed surprised, and 
proceeded to an entry leading to the President's study. I fol- 
lowed him, supposing the introduction was to take place in the 
adjoining room. At this moment Mr. Jefferson entered the entry 
at the other end, and all three of us were packed in this narrow 
space, from which, to make room, I was obliged to back out. In 
this awkward position my introduction to the President was made 
by Mr. Madison. Mr. Jefferson's appearance soon explained to 
me that the general circumstances of my reception had not been 
accidental, but studied. I, in my official costume, found myself at 
the hour of reception he had himself appointed, introduced to a 
man as President of the United States, not merely in an undress, 
but actually standing in slippers down at the heels, and both pant- 
aloons, coat, and under-clothes indicative of utter slovenliness and 
indifference to appearances ; and in a state of negligence actually 
studied. I could not doubt that the whole scene was prepared 
and intended as an insult, not to me personally, but to the sover- 
eign I represented." Moore, the Irish poet, who went to the United 
States in the same packet-ship with Mr. and Mrs. Merry, knew of, 
and sympathized with the British Minister in, his indignation, and 
the rhapsodist relieved his friends and his own mind by a few 
sharp iambics at the Presidential Democrat : as an 

" Inglorious soul, 
Which creeps and winds beneath a mob's control, 
Which courts the rabble's smile, the rabble's nod." 

There should be no doubt that the conduct of Jefferson at this time 



THE FOUNDER OF EMPIRE. I 29 

ciliation of America, were not now to be found 
among those Englishmen who favored the ac- 
knowledgment of her independence of the British 
crown. These Whigs were most conspicuous for 
their novel coldness. Indeed, such are the 
changes and chances of political affairs, those pro- 
posals which were to promote a gracious and pol- 
itic course were advised by men eminent in the 
Tory ranks.-^ Lord Mansfield it was who had man- 
aged the delicate task for the introductory recep- 
tion of Mr. Adams as first American Minister ; and 
it was William Pitt, inheriting his father's sincere 

"was prepared." Those who knew him well, including Hamilton, 
concur in speaking of his natural and usual manner as dignified 
and becoming the exalted positions which he held. He had been 
too accustomed to the proprieties of such and all kinds of official and 
social intercourse, in the highest and most polite circles in America 
and Europe, to be otherwise than purposely at fault. ' It was a 
piece of unseemly and unfortunate acting. 

^ " Standing in the lobby of the House of Lords, surrounded by 
a hundred of the first people of the kingdom, Sir Francis Molineux, 
the gentleman usher of the black rod, appeared suddenly in the 
room, with his long staff, and roared out, with a very loud voice : 
' Where is Mr. Adams, Lord Mansfield's friend ? ' I frankly 
avowed myself Lord Mansfield's friend ; and was politely con- 
ducted, by Sir Francis, to my place Pope had given me, 

when a boy, an affection for Murray. When in the study and 
practice of the law, my admiration of the learning, talents, and 
eloquence of Mansfield had been constantly increasing, though 
some of his opinions I could not approve. His politics in American 
affairs I had always detested. But now I found more politeness 
and good-humor in him than in Richmond, Camden, Burke, or 
Fox." — Life of John Adatns, vol. 2, p. 82. 
9 



I30 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 

desire to admit American rights and immunities, 
who, as chancellor of the Shelburne Administra- 
tion, advocated a liberal course in commercial 
affairs, and introduced into Parliament a bill in- 
tended to secure the States advantages identical 
with those secured to the subjects of Great Britain, 
especially as regards her colonies in America. 
Had such a bill become a law, a wonderful emol- 
lient would have been applied to irritable interests ; 
and reciprocal benefits to the trades and common 
intercourse of both countries would have flowed 
from its well-conceived friendly purport. George 
III. is frequently said by satirists to have been 
the responsible father of American independence. 
Truth lurks in satire. It was even yet a hard 
thing, so late as 1785, for any man or passion to 
entirely alienate the proudly filial affections of the 
people of British descent in America from the duti- 
ful respect which they seem always willing to pay 
to the institutions and literature of England.^ 

^ This inclination was, and is, very observable among people of 
generous minds in America. Adams, Jay, Governeur Morris, 
Kent, Marshall, and Webster, ever expressed their devotedness to 
the principles of English liberty and constitutional law. The eccen- 
tric, brilliant genius, John Randolph of Roanoke, once charged with 
being under " British influence," spoke a popular feeling when he 
fervently said in his place in Congress, " I acknowledge the influ- 
ence of a Shakespeare and a Milton on my imagination : of a Bacon 
upon my philosophy : of a Sherlock upon my religion : of a Locke 
upon my understanding : and of a Chatham upon qualities which, 
would to God, I possessed in common with that extraordinary man. 



THE FOUNDER OF EMPIRE. 131 

V The philosophers who opened the way for the 
crusade against order and perfect freedom in 
France, and some of her statesmen, like Ver- 
gennes, knew of this tendency, and would not have 
the United States become too great ; they rather 
desired to preserve for England so much strength 
in North America, that the two powers might 
watch, restrain, and balance each other.-^ It was 
to this end that Vergennes had advised the nego- 
tiations of peace to be with each State, and not to 
insist on their being conducted by England as if 
the States were a united and entire nation ; and, 
with similar design, he had pressed upon Jay a 
settlement of claims with Spain. Now, Spain was 
no friend to the new-comer among nationalities. 
Its "government singularly feared the prosperity 

and progress of the Americans Spain would 

be much inclined to stipulate for such a form of 
independence as may leave divisions between Eng- 
land and her colonies." ^ Aranda, the Spanish 
Ambassador, met Jay in company with La Fayette, 
at Versailles, on September 26, 1782. "When 
shall we proceed to do business ? " asked the Span- 
iard. " When you communicate your powers to 

This is a British influence which I acknowledge." This is quoted 
from memory ; and, though the writer cannot be entirely certain 
as to its merely verbal accuracy, he is certain that it is substantially 
correct. 

^ Raynal's History of the Two Indies, vol. 9, p. 318, edit. 1781. 

2 Montmorin to Vergennes, October 15, 1778. 



132 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 

treat," answered the American. " An exchange of 
commissions cannot be expected, for Spain has 
not acknowledged your independence," suggested 
Aranda. " We have declared our independence," 
replied Jay. The fine hauteur of his Huguenot 
descent lent fire to his American patriotism. 
France itself had entered into the war chiefly to 
cripple England, and to regain her former territo- 
ries and prestige. Trustworthy intelligence had 
already come from the United States of the strong 
attachment of its people to England; Turgot rea- 
soned that, from habit and consanguinity, their 
commerce would return there ; and Vergennes ac- 
knowledged that he had doubts of their firmness 
and fidelity.^ The Great Frederic of Prussia had, 
in view of the state of his own affairs, to lessen his 
aid to expressions of sympathy ; and was able to 
say no further, practically, than that he would not 
hesitate to recognize the independence of the 
United States, "when France, which is more di- 
rectly interested in the event of this contest, shall 
have given the example." ^ So it is seen that with 
France, Spain, and Prussia really wishing but to 
"cripple" England, she herself was unwittingly, 
for once, giving new life to their original purpose ; 
a purpose defeated at the treaty at Paris, in 1783, 
mainly by Jay and Adams, who knew of the object 

^ Vergennes to Montmorin, November 2, 1778. 
2 Schulemberg to Arthur Lee, January 16, 1778. 



THE FOUNDER OF EMPIRE. 1 33 

at which the other powers aimed. " You are afraid," 
said the British commissioner, Mr. Oswald, at that 
time, to John Adams, " of being made the tools of 
the powers of Europe." " Indeed I am," answered 
Mr, Adams. " What powers ? " returned Mr. Os- 
wald. " All of them," was the candid admission 
from Mr. Adams. The independence of the thir- 
teen American States had no sincere, unselfish 
friend among the nations of Europe — the pros- 
perity of those States, as an independent united 
nation, was now apparent to be equally unsuitable 
to their policies.^ The schemes of Vergennes for 
" the irreparable scission of the British empire," 
and his manipulations of circumstances to sub- 
ordinate the States into unconscious instrumen- 
talities and aids to those schemes, are very inter- 
esting.^ The French Minister's " sole object was 
the disruption of the British empire without the 
aid of any European power, except Spain." The 
latter power was alarmed by the dangerous exam- 
ple which the independence of the States would 
give to the Spanish-American colonies. The de- 
signs of France and Spain were again favored by 
the course which events were now taking. The 
United States, according to those original designs, 

1 Diplomatic Correspondence of the American Revolution, vol. 6, 
p. 483 ; and the Life of Lord Shelbjtrne, vol. 3, p. 300. 

2 This episode is well told in the Life of John Adams, vol. I, 
op. 420-484, and in vol 2, p. 22. 



134 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 

were to have been confined to a strip of land on 
the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, bounded by lines 
nearly like those which France contended for 
against England after the treaty of Utrecht ; Spain 
was to have held West and East Florida, and to 
claim that these extended to the interior and 
reached the great lakes ; England was to have 
had the territories north of the Ohio, as defined 
by the Quebec Act of 1774 ; the country between 
Florida and the Cumberland was to have been 
left to the Indians, who were to be placed under 
the protection of Spain and the United States; 
and thus it would be that England, Spain, and the 
United States would watch, restrain, and balance 
each other, and make France the paramount power. 
This Vergennes meant to have insured as the 
result of his covert practices in arranging the 
terms of the proposed peace. The claim of the 
United States to have its western boundary on 
the Mississippi was to have been denied ; as was, 
also, that of the right of fishery on the banks off 
Newfoundland.^ Jay, as we have already inti- 
mated,^ knew from an early time of these schemes ; 
and John Adams had, of his own observation, 
causes to suspect the good faith of Vergennes. 
It was the certain knowledge of these schemes 



*&" 



1 Life of John Jay, vol. i, pp. 120, 143, 144, and in vol. 2, pp. 
172-477. 

2 Ante, pp. 57-58 of Part I. 



'cP^" 




Stanrbr^'s GeograpTiical £stab^ 



THE FOUNDER OF EMPIRE. 1 35 

which had brought the EngUsh government and 
the American commissioners to an understanding 
speedily and, apart from the cooperation of Ver- 
gennes, to negotiate and conclude the prelimina- 
ries of the peace. Turgot, it is since then dis- 
closed, had been consulted by Louis the Sixteenth 
himself, and had approved of Vergennes' policy. 
The official papers of Vergennes, and the written 
advice of Turgot, discovered in the famous iron- 
chest of that ill-fated monarch, have made public 
how few, beyond the generous La Fayette and his 
immediate consociates, are justly entitled to the in- 
discriminate laudation and gratitude with which it 
is habitual with us to speak of the France of that 
epoch. The schemes of those two kingdoms re- 
mained unchanged even after the peace of 1783. 
The disturbed condition of the States, and their 
continued repugnance to national unity and a 
common government, gave reasonable hope to 
France and Spain that their ambitious several 
purposes might yet be accomplished. The efifect 
which the detected intrigues had upon the course 
of Washington's Administration, in establishing 
the policy of having no " entangling alliances " 
with foreign nations, will require our attention in 
a subsequent part of this work. 

But the sturdy conduct of George III. was to 
accomplish great events; among others to alienate 
awhile the kind feelings of his former subjects, 



136 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 

and to help that pressure which was forcing them 
into a "soHd union." The Shelburne ministry, 
excepting, perhaps, WilHam Pitt, were his very able 
ally. Positive, hostile legislation. Orders in Coun- 
cil, which were " war in disguise," and, over and 
beyond all, that old ever-pervading affectation of 
insulting pride, made many improbable hopes, 
beneficial to America, come speedily and unex- 
pectedly to pass ; and chiefly among them conces- 
sions from the several States toward a union com- 
petent to the purposes of nationality and domin- 
ion. American interests had become thoroughly 
alarmed ; American pride stung to the quick and 
excited into action. The sting was the more 
severe because, in part, thought to be deserved. 
Lord Shelburne watched with hopeful eagerness 
the progress of disaffection and consequent im- 
pending disasters in America: for Congress had 
exhausted its vitality, and publicly declared its 
impotency. And now the absurdity of the Con- 
federacy was more fully declared by the failure to 
get even the impost. This was done too by the 
non-conformity of a single State. The significant, 
unequivocal fact was accepted by English politi- 
cians as a finality : the end of any further attempt 
looking to a united government, and, as surely, 
of course, the end of all devices and means on the 
part of the American States and their discarded 
Confederacy to provide for the public debts. The 



THE FOUNDER OF EMPIRE. 1 37 

understanding of men, especially in Europe, be- 
came convinced from the repeated failures of these 
Congressional ventures that a union of the States 
in an efficient and responsible form of govern- 
ment, was to be taken as forever impracticable and 
would now be abandoned. 

The English ministry conducted its foreign 
affairs as though anarchy was from the first closely 
following peace in America; and that the labors 
of the Revolution would be quickly lost in the loss 
of liberty itself. The condition of feeling and the 
motives of political parties in England at this time 
have been freely and accurately described by Mr. 
Charles Francis Adams, who has himself patriot- 
ically, honorably, and usefully filled the office of 
Minister Plenipotentiary to the Court of St. James, 
during a time of peril not less imminent to the 
unity of his country.^ The policy of England 

^ Lord Sheffield . . . . " painted the ruin and confusion in 
which the colonists were involved by the state of anarchy conse- 
quent upon their independence. And he ventured to whisper the 
prediction that, out of this chaos, New England, at least, would, in 
the end, solicit to come back as a repentant child to the maternal 
embrace. These arguments finally carried the day. In July of 
the year 1783, the exclusive system was decreed, first by Orders in 
Council, then by temporary acts of Parliament. The United States 
were treated as utter strangers, and carefully shut out from trade 
with the colonies. Restrictions and commercial jealousy were the 
order of the day. The demonstrations were viewed by all Amer- 
icans as hostile in spirit, and therefore to be met in the same 
manner. The failure of all efforts to establish an effective counter- 
system of restriction went a great way to rouse them to a sense of 



138 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 

was then finally settled by the Shelburne adminis- 
tration. It was restriction. The healing method 
proposed by Pitt was rejected. To cripple and 
destroy the American States, and reduce them to 
suppliant colonies, was the object. The English 
ministry failed again. " War in disguise " was as 
fruitless as open war had been. The wrath of 
man worked unto the purpose of the union. For 
the arms which were to overcome and end this 
sea of trouble were to be sought and to be found 
only in a consolidation of the States in a common 
government ; by that alone strength could come 
and authority be secured; past indebtedness be 
provided for out of the abundance of means for 

the necessity of a better form of government. Pride came in aid 
of principle, stimulating the sluggish, and quickening the timid, 
until the cry for a new confederacy became general. The pam- 
phlet of Lord Sheffield had its effect upon the formation and adop- 
tion of the Federal Constitution of 1788. Thus it often happens 
with nations that think to make a gain out of the embarrassments 
and miseries of their neighbors. Indignation at once supplies the 
vigor to apply a remedy, which, had the matter been left to reason 
alone, might have been put off a great while or never been resorted 
to at all. Lord Sheffield's interference must be classed among the 
secondary misfortunes which befell Great Britain in the disastrous 
record of the American War ; whilst among the people of America 
it deserves to be remembered with satisfaction as a conversion of 
what was intended to be a poison into a restoring medicine." — 
Life of John Adatns, vol. 2, p. 105. See Life of Lord Shelburne, 
vol. 3, p. 263, relating the unfriendly suggestion of the emissary of 
Vergennes to Shelburne as to the claims of the United States to 
the Newfoundland fishery and to the Valley of the Mississippi and 
the Ohio. 



THE FOUNDER OF EMPIRE. 1 39 

national wealth; credit be restored at home and 
abroad; manufactures encouraged, and trade re- 
vived and extended. 

England had, in fact, immediately after the 
peace of 1783, entered actively upon an epoch of 
aggressiveness and of defense. Aggressive, on 
behalf of her traditional assumption of the domin- 
ion of the seas : which was to reinforce the em- 
pire of her navigation, and to keep open and 
maintain to her own use and management the 
markets of the world ; defensive, as the trusted 
champion of legitimate liberty on the continent of 
Europe. The French Revolution soon in bloody 
act denounced the divine right of kings ; filled 
Europe with apprehension for its established 
order and peace; and boasted a special hostility 
to England and its constitutional freedom. That 
revolution developed into the Consulate; the Con- 
sulate into the Empire ; and on the field of Water- 
loo alone was Europe assured of protection from 
universal conquest, given repose, and England's 
station in European affairs at once confirmed. 
No such moral or physical triumph followed the 
selfish career of England in her attempt to fasten 
again upon the world her assumed dominion of 
the seas. It brought her and the United States 
once more, in 181 2-14, into what may be correctly 
called a complementary war, and its issue freed 
the open seas from that assertion of exclusive 



I40 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 

dominion; but in 1861, when the surrender of 
Messrs. Mason and Slidell was demanded from 
the United States, England finally renounced, by 
necessary inference, the doctrine itself, insisting, 
upon that occasion in her own behalf, for the 
right principle vindicated by America in that war 
of 1812.^ 

^ Lord Lyndhurst, in his speech on the Right of Search Ques- 
tion, in the House of Lords, July 26, 1858, had already said : " Many 
persons — perhaps I ought not to say ' many persons,' but several 
persons, and those in a high political position — appear to think 
that .... we have surrendered a most valuable and important 
right. The answer which I make to that is, that we have sur- 
rendered no right, for that, in point of fact, no such right as that 
which is contended for [the right of search] has ever existed. We 
have, my Lords, abandoned the assumption of a right, and in doing 
so we have, I think, acted justly, prudently, and wisely." He then 
proceeds to observe " upon the general question," and refers to 
"some of the most eminent authorities on the subject," including 
Lord Stowell, to the end that the " question should be distinctly 
and finally understood and settled." " A distinction," he continues, 
" has been attempted to be drawn — for which I think there is no 
foundation — between the right of visit and the right of search. 
Visit and search are two words which are always placed together 
in our vocabulary of international law, but they express what is 
conveyed by a single term in foreign vocabularies, ' le droit de 
visite' What is the use of visiting if you can do nothing .-'.... 
The moment you call for an examination of the papers, the mo- 
ment you ask a single question, the visit becomes a search ; so 
that the visit to a particular vessel for the purpose of inquiry, is, 
in effect, the exercise of a right, comprehended in the words droit 
de visite I think I have now gone far enough," he con- 
cludes, " to establish the position with which I started : that 
there is, in truth, no such thing as the right of visit." — Hansard's 
Parliatnentary Debates, vo\. 151 (3d series), pp. 2078-2083. Gro- 
tius' Mare Liberum, published in 1609, in which he asserts that the 



THE FOUNDER OF EMPIRE. 141 

Such was the condition of the American States 
at this complex crisis [i 785-1 787]. Practically 
segregating as a nationality from the family of 
nations ; threatened and endangered from abroad ; 
dissolvins: into hostile communities at home. 

Yet it was within, and by the influence, of these 
several and converging hostile circumstances that 
the Republic came forth. 

sea is a common open and free to the use of all nations. That 
treatise was really designed for a defense of the maritime rights of 
the Dutch. Selden's answer, published in 1635, entitled Mare 
Claustem, or, 2is its enlarged title declares, " 7>J^ Closed Sea; or 
Two Books concerning the Dominion of the Sea. In the first, it is 
demotistrated that the sea, by the law of nature and of nations, is 
not comtnon to manki?id, but is capable of private dominiott, or prop- 
erty, equally with the land. In the second, it is maintained that the 
King of Great Britain is lord of the circumfluent sea, as ati insep- 
arable and perpetual appendage of the British Empire.^'' Selden's 
book was translated into English by Marchmont Needham, and 
printed in 1652, with an appendix of additional documents by Pres- 
ident Bradshaw. See, likewise, War in Disguise, or, the Frauds of 
the Neutral Flags {l^ondon, 1805) ; a remarkable and most eloquent 
pamphlet, published anonymously, but since admitted to have been 
written by the celebrated James Stephen, M. P. ; and, also, An 
Answer to War in Disguise : or. Remarks upon the New Doctrine 
of Eftgland conco-nittg Neutral Trade (New York, 1806). Gouver- 
neur Morris was the author of the latter. These pamphlets made 
a wide and profound impression at the time they appeared. They 
are long since out of print, and are now little known. 

As to the revolt of the American colonists, the late Lord Derby, 
in a frank spirit of intelligent candor, "unreservedly admitted, 
in a speech delivered in the presence of an American minister, 
that we were right in the Revolutionary contest ; and if that 
question were now submitted to the free judgment of the people of 
England, such would be found to be the public sense of that great 
nation." — President Van Buren's Political Parties, p. 14. 



142 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 

Few perceived that germs of life were begin- 
ning to stir and glow amid the States themselves. 
Fewer saw hope for blossoms and fruit to come. 
Among those few who felt national life at last 
stirring; beneath the surface of sectional interests 
and state antipathy, and who fervently cherished 
the indication, was Alexander Hamilton. 

" There is a day in spring 
When under all the earth the secret germs 
Begin to stir and glow before they bud : 
The wealth and festal pomps of midsummer 
Lie in the heart of that inglorious day, 
Which no man names with blessing — though its work 
Is blest by all the world." ^ 

And such days there are in the slow story of 
the growth of durable and grand empire. 

1 Story of Queen Isabel. By Miss Smedley. 



CHAPTER IV. 
THE LIFE AND EPOCH 

[1757-1774.] 

^TAT. I-I7. 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE LIFE AND EPOCH. 

[i 757-1 774.] 

Alexander Hamilton was born a British sub- 
ject at Nevis, one of the West Indian Islands, 
on the nth of January, 1757. His father was 
James Hamilton ; — a son of Alexander Hamilton, 
of Grange, the family seat in Ayrshire, Scotland, 
who, in 1 730, had married Elizabeth, eldest daugh- 
ter of Sir Robert Pollock. The lineage may be 
traced through the Cambuskeith branch of the 
family to a remote and distinguished ancestry.^ 
James was bred a merchant ; the West Indies en- 
couraged mercantile ventures ; and there he went 
and set up business in St. Christopher, another 
of those islands. Though, in the beginning, suc- 
cessful, he became, by indiscreet friendship, insol- 
vent, and was compelled to accept maintenance for 

1 Anderson's Historical and Genealogical Memoirs of the House 
of Hamilton, with Genealogical Memoirs of the several branches 
of the family. Edinburgh, 1825. Life of Alexander Hamilton, 
by his son, vol. i, p. i. 
10 



146 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

many years from those he knew in Scotland, until 
his son Alexander, as soon as able, assumed the 
sole care. He died, in an old age, at St. Vincent, 
in 1799. Bad health restrained him from joining 
his son in the United States, and they met no 
more. As we will have no need, in any other 
chapter of this historical study, to recur to this 
connection of Hamilton with the West Indies, it 
is better that we now should finish the particular 
subject: and by an orderly, though anticipatory, 
recital in this place of an incident, showing the 
unfading freshness of his filial and fraternal in- 
stincts. It is related in the following letter: — 

"New York, June 23, 1785. 

" My dear Brother, — I have received your letter of the 
31st of May last, which and one other are the only letters I 
have received from you in many years. You did not receive 
one which I wrote to you about six months ago. The situa- 
tion you describe yourself to be in gives me much pain, and 
nothing will make me happier than, as far as may be in my 
power, to contribute to your relief. 

" I will cheerfully pay your draft upon me for fifty pounds 
sterling, whenever it shall appear. I wish it was in my power 
to desire you to enlarge the sum, but, though my future pros- 
pects are of the most flattering kind, my present engagements 
would render it inconvenient to me to advance you a larger 
sum. My affection for you, however, will not permit me to 
be inattentive to your welfare, and I hope time will prove to 
you, that I feel all the sentiments of a brother. Let me only 
request of you to exert your industry for a year or two more 
where you are, and at the end of that time I promise myself 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 1 47 

to be able to invite you to a more comfortable settlement in 
this country. But what has become of our dear father? It 
is an age since I have heard from him or of him, though I 
have written him several letters. Perhaps, alas ! he is no 
more, and I shall not have the pleasing opportunity of con- 
tributing to render the close of his life more happy than the 
progress of it. My heart bleeds at the recollection of his 
misfortunes and embarrassments. Sometimes I flatter myself 
his brothers have extended their support to him ; and that he 
now enjoys tranquillity and ease. At other times I fear he is 
suffering in indigence. Should he be alive, inform him of 
my inquiries ; beg him to write to me, and tell him how ready 
I shall be to devote myself and all I have to his accommoda- 
tion and happiness. 

" Believe me always, your affectionate friend and brother." ^ 

The maiden name of Hamilton's mother was 
Faucette. She was the child of a Huguenot, a 
physician, whose family had been driven from 
their country by the edict of Nantes, and who 
had settled and practiced his profession at Nevis. 
She had been the wife of a Mr. Lavine, also a ? 
physician. He is said to have been a "man of 
letters and of polished manners." The marriage 
was not fortunate. He was attracted by her 
beauty ; and his wealth winning the commenda- 
tion of the young girl's mother, he received the 
unwilling hand of a bride. 



& 



" Such hearts as these were never paired above ! 
Ill-suited to each other; joined, not matched." 

^ Reminiscences of James A. Hamilton, pp. 2-3. Life of Ham- 
ilton, by his son, John C. Hamilton, vol. i, p. 2. 



s;i 



4--^ 



148 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

She, after a time of mutual antipathy, or of mis- 
conduct on his part, obtained a divorce, removed 
to St. Christopher, where she won the true regard 
of James Hamilton, and he married her. They 
had several sons : Thomas and Alexander alone 
lived to maturity. Alexander was the youngest. 
She died while he was yet a child ; but not before 
he was capable of receiving and preserving distinct 
recollections of her, and those recollections he 
would repeat with expressions of fondness. She 
was esteemed " a woman of superior intellect, 
highly cultivated, of elevated and generous senti- 
ments, and of unusual elegance of person and 
manner."-^ The testimony which men entirely 
great, as it were with one voice, love to bear to 
the worth and efficacy of a mother's influence, 
moral and intellectual, is the most beautiful and 
the grandest phase of that superior and ineffable 
virtue, filial piety. A collection of such instances 
would be one of charming story and of wondrous 
power. 

Hamilton derived from his parents the moral 
and intellectual qualities of their nationalities. 
Independent spirit, energy, self-reliance, and a 
mind prone to metaphysical pursuits. France and 
Scotland have not been unkindred alliances. The 
court of Louis XI. was guarded by Scotch troops; 
a Mary, " Queen of Scots and of Hearts," shared 

^ Life of Hajftiliofi, by his son, vol. i, p. 2. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 1 49 

for a too brief reign the throne of France ; and 
France gave a refuge to the exiled Stuart. Their 
intimacies have been many and dear ; and Miche- 
let has commented upon the kindred relation of 
the people of those kingdoms. 

The hopeless state of his father's business al- 
lowed Mr. Peter Lytton and his sister, afterwards 
Mrs. Mitchell, to provide for the maintenance and 
education of the child. They were relatives of 
his mother, who was then dead. He went to 
St. Croix with them. Here he soon became pro- 
ficient in the French and English languages. 
Hamilton seems to have rarely spoken of himself. 
We have one incident, however, upon his own au- 
thority, of this very early part of his life. He 
was taught to repeat the decalogue in the Hebrew 
tongue by a Jewish lady, whose school he at- 
tended, and " when he was so small that he was 
placed standing by her side on a table." ^ Before 
he had reached his thirteenth year he was taken 
from school. The opportunities for school train- 
ing were then in St. Croix limited to the simplest 
rudiments, and it is likely that when he left the 
school he had already received all the benefit it 
was able to impart. But his own diligence and 
the aid of an admiring friend were to do much to 
remedy the defect. 

In the autumn of 1769 Hamilton commenced 

^ Life of Hamiltoji, by his son, vol. i, p. 4. 



150 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

the active battle of life, — not to weary, not to 
cease, till life ended. It was a busy life, lived for 
noble purposes. Not a " fitful fever," but a steady, 
earnest, brilliant warmth, generating great deeds. 
In the thirteenth year of his age he entered the 
counting-house, at St. Croix, of Mr. Nicholas 
Cruger ; and in less than a year's time was 
thought capable of more than clerkly duty. 

The boy was father to the man. The indica- 
tions of his maturity in thought and in man- 
ner came with the earliest occasions. " He had 
genius, understanding, memory, taste, reflection, 
industry, and exactness."^ Those are the quali- 
ties, rare in unity, which Cicero saw in Caesar. 
This comparison may seem exaggeration. The 
sequel must determine. But Hamilton in the 
method of working was like Burleigh and John 
De Witt.^ We are told that Csesar divided his 
attention among many occupations at the same 
instant, and that many things went forward at 
once under his direction. Hamilton kept one 
thing at a time before his mind. Upon that all 
his energy was set. Whatever he found to do, 
that he did with all his might. He trusted little 
to genius and inspiration — much to labor and 
thought. 

His understanding, industry, and tact so favor- 

1 Cicero, Philipp., ii. 44. 

2 " One thing at a time " was the motto of these statesmen. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 151 

ably impressed Mr. Cruger that that gentleman, 
going [1770] for health upon a distant journey, 
left this mere lad, then not yet fourteen years old, 
in the sole charge and direction of his mercantile 
house. The commerce of the West Indies was 
then unusually active : especially with the North 
American colonies. The peace of Paris [1763] 
had fully opened navigation and given increase to 
the facilities and demands of trade. We have 
testimony of the ability by which he conducted 
this trust, contained in letters written by him 
[i 770-1 772] to correspondents in the neighbor- 
ing islands, in the colonies, and in Europe. And, 
indeed, such was his indefatigable vigilance that 
wherever he inferred his own presence might bet- 
ter attain the object, there he would go person- 
ally in his master's interest, if it were possible. 
At this period — one which he is said to have 
esteemed the most useful part of his education — 
two letters were written by him which we should 
select as worth careful perusal ; for they suggest 
to us how intelligent, circumspect, and intelligible 
he could be in practical transactions at an age 
when boys of his years are yet in preparatory 
schools. Those letters must certainly persuade 
that Mr. Cruger was not imprudent with his con- 
fidence, though it was the rapid growth of little 
more than a year's experience. They are dated 



152 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

at St. Croix, the i6th November, 1771.^ He had 
then been two years in the counting-room, and 
one in its chief direction. 

I Letter to Tileman Cruger. — " In behalf of Mr. Nicholas 
Cruger (who, by reason of a very ill state of health, went from this 
to New York, the 15th ult.), I have the pleasure to address you 
by the long expected sloop Thunderbolt, Capt. William Newton, 
owned by Messrs. Jacob Walton, John Harris, and Nicholas Cru- 
ger ; the latter of whom has written you fully concerning her des- 
tination, which I need not repeat. She has on board, besides a 
parcel of lumber for yourself, sundry articles on account of her 
owners as per inclosed bill of lading ; and when you have disposed 
of them, you will please to credit each partner for one-third of the 
proceeds. 

" Mr. N. Cruger's proportion of this, and the balance of your 
account hitherto, will more than pay for his one-third cost of her 
first cargo up ; and for the other two, I shall endeavor to place 
value in your hands betimes. I only wish for a line from you, to 
know what will best answer. 

" Reports here represent matters in a very disagreeable light, 
with regard to the Guarda Costas, which are said to swarm upon 
the coast ; but as you will be the best judge of what danger there 
might be, all is submitted to your prudent direction. 

" Capt. Newton must arm with you, as he could not so conven- 
iently do it here. Give me leave to hint to you that you cannot be 
too particular in your instructions to him. I think he seems to 
want experience in such voyages. 

" Messrs. Walton and John H. Cruger are to furnish you them- 
selves with their respective proportion of the cost of the several 
cargoes. 

" The staves on board if by any means convenient, I beg may 
be returned by the sloop, they will command a good price here, 
and, I suppose, little or nothing with you ; could they be got at I 
would not send them down, but they are stowed promiscuously 
among other things. 

" If convenient, please to deliver the hogsheads, now contain- 
ing the Indian meal, to the captain as water-casks, and others 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 1 53 

In the methodical and energetic management of 
great affairs of state, and in the prudent care of 
all weighty interests committed to his charge, we 
shall have occasion, perhaps more than once again, 
to note the influence of the mercantile knowledsfe 

o 

and habit acquired in the counting-house at St. 
Croix. Nor will the reader fail to observe for 
himself the effects as they appear in the exact- 
ness, promptitude, industry, circumspection and 
thorouohness which mark each act of Hamilton's 
career : whether at college, in the army, in Con- 
gress, in conventions, at the bar, or as Secretary 
of the Treasury. 

should he want them. I supplied him with twenty here. I must 
beg your reference to Mr. Cruger's last letter of the 2d ult. for 
other particulars. 

" Our crop will be very early, so that the utmost dispatch is 
necessary to import three cargoes of mules in due time." 

Letter to Captain William Newton. — "Herewith I give 
you all your dispatches, and desire you will proceed immediately 
to Curagoa. You are to deliver your cargo there to Tileman Cru- 
ger, Esq., agreeably to your bill of lading, whose directions you 
must follow in every respect concerning the disposal of your vessel 
after your arrival. 

" You know that it is intended you shall go from thence to the 
main for a load of mules, and I must beg if you do, you '11 be very 
choice in the quality of your mules, and bring as many as your ves- 
sel can conveniently contain, — by all means take in a large supply 
of provender. Remember that you are to make three trips this 
season, and unless you are very diligent you will be too late, as our 
crops will be early in. Take care to avoid the Guarda Costas. I 
place an entire reliance upon the prudence of your conduct." There 
are two other letters of this early time preserved, which may be 
seen in the volume of Hamilton'' s Writings, edited by Francis L. 
Hawks at the request of Hamilton's widow. 



154 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

During those years of active and various busi- 
ness servitude at St. Croix he was the same close 
student his later 3^ears more fully reveal. He read 
standard books, which laid open the theories of 
values and of trade : thinking out to practical con- 
clusions how those theories might be advantage- 
ously applied to the daily work he had in hand. 
History even then, likewise, stored his memory ; 
poesy warmed and elevated his imagination ; phi- 
losophy enlarged his reason. The Rev. Hugh 
Knox ^ is said to have taken a special supervision 
of his studies in the ancient classics ; encouraged 
his taste for erudite literature ; and to have guided 
the subtle quality of his intellect while it pursued 
inquiries into those speculations, called ethics, by 
which moral man is governed, and into the philoso- 
phy of metaphysics, which discloses the science of 
mind. This gentleman had been somewhat a man 
of the world; was a good and ripe scholar, of a 
frank and encouraging nature, of a graceful and. 
unaffected elocution, and of a mind susceptible to 
receive, and of a free disposition to impart to 
others, the influences of correct habits and relig- 
ious sentiments. Hamilton was most fortunate in 
having thus early the association and friendship 
of a person so cultivated and so religiously toned. 
Mr. Knox seems to have had none of that " sour 
godliness " which averts men of taste and sincer- 

1 Miller's Life of John Rodgers, D. D., p. 97. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 1 55 

it}^ and which impairs " the comfort of a reason- 
able, religious, and holy hope " and " the confi- 
dence of a certain faith." He was a native of 
Ireland ; came to the North American Plantations 
some time in 1 753-1 754, and established, under 
the patronage of the Reverend John Rodgers, a 
classical school, near a small village, called St. 
George, in the county of Newcastle, Delaware. 
He subsequently left the profession of teaching; 
entered the ministry of the Gospel ; became emi- 
nent, and finally settled in the Island of St. Croix. 
The occasion which, while he was yet at St. 
George, brought about this change of calling on 
his part, will give us an illustrating idea of what 
manner of man he was : how apt he was to receive 
impressions, and how capable he was of impress- 
ing others. Mr. Knox was a respectful attendant 
at public worship, and a young man of good gen- 
eral moral conduct. He was, however, in the habit 
every Saturday evening of meeting some gay com- 
panions at the tavern near the place of his resi- 
dence, with whom he spent several hours, at first 
with mirthful temperance, but, after a while, not 
so entirely in this proper manner as could have 
been wished. On a certain Saturday night, when 
Knox and his companions had been diverting 
themselves in their accustomed way, some of the 
company said to him, " Come, parson " (a title 
which they gave him on account of his being usu- 



156 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

ally the most grave of the company), " give us a 
sermon." He decHned. They urged him. He 
still resisted. At length, overpersuaded by their 
importunity, he said, " Well, come : I will give you 
a sermon which Mr. Rodgers preached last Sun- 
day." That gentleman had delivered an unusually 
solemn and excellent sermon. Knox, aided by 
good memory, flexible voice, and great powers of 
imitation, was enabled not only to recollect and re- 
peat the substance of the discourse, as he actually 
heard it delivered, but also to personate the voice 
and manner of Mr. Rodgers so faithfully, that one 
who heard it all from an adjoining room declared 
that, if he had not known to the contrary, he 
should have supposed it was Mr. Rodgers himself. 
Knox was carried away by the passion of the scene, 
and spoke so like an earnestly devout man, that 
his profane hearers became much affected, and, 
when the discourse was ended, one after another 
they silently and thoughtfully withdrew. But, 
what is the more remarkable, Knox also became 
most solemnly affected by his simulated preach- 
ing; and, when it was finished, he sat down with 
mingled emotions of shame and repentance at the 
impious mockery of which he had been guilty. 
He went homeward a sad and better man. After 
a season of self-induced retirement and reflection, 
away from the vicinity of St. George, he prepared 
for and entered upon his career in the Presbyterian 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 157 

ministry, grew into a distinguished scholar and 
preacher, and received the honor of the degree of 
" Doctor in Divinity " from the University of Glas- 
gow. This was Hamilton's first adequate pre- 
ceptor, and the first to discover the rich resources 
of his intellectual genius. But whether Hamilton 
received from his Scottish nature, or at this time 
acquired, the tendency to examine subjects in their 
elements, it was certainly his most distinguishing 
mental trait. Aristotle confirmed him, in after 
years at college, that "the end of philosophy is 
not knowledge but the energy conversant about 
knowledge," and that " the intellect is perfected 
not by knowledge but by activity." ^ Or, as the 
English epic poet describes this philosophy, — 

" Knowledge dwells in heads replete with thoughts of other men ; 
Wisdom in minds attentive to their own. 
Knowledge, a rude, unprofitable mass, 
The mere materials with which wisdom builds, 
'Till shaped, and smoothed, and fitted to its place, 
Does but encumber what it seems to enrich." 

The French language had become so familiar 
to him, by its general use in society and in the 
transactions of commerce, that he wrote and spoke 
it with the accent and fluency of native speech. 

Another letter written by him at an earlier age, 

^ Aristotle, Eth. N^ic, i. 3, said of moral knowledge, TeAos oh 
yvSiffis, aWk irpa^is. — Metaphysics, lib. viii., c. 2. Tlaaai al reKvai Kat at 
iroffiTtKai Kat firiffr^ixai 5vvd/j.€is flcrlv. — Lib. viii., c. 8 : TeAos 5'^ ivepyeia, 

/col rovrov Kapiv t] Svpafiis \a/j.$dy€Tai koI ri)y OeopijriKrjr {^Kovcriv) 

Iva dewpovffiv aW' ov dewpovfftv Iva OecDpriTiK^y eKuffiV' 



158 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

and to which we have before now referred,^ dis- 
closes, also, the boy's predominant disposition and 
spirit. It was written in the unaffected sincerity 
of a natural candor, and gives us an insight to the 
governing impulses of his heart. As we reflect 
upon this letter scenes arise before our imagina- 
tion of two other youths, each less in years than 
those of manhood, who, also " contemning the con- 
dition of a clerk or the like, to which their for- 
tunes condemned them," from their clerks' desks 
in the English company's offices at Madras and at 
Calcutta, felt that there was another and a bright 
future reserved for them. They were reserved, by 
fate, to extend and establish in India an empire 
of that dominion " which has dotted over the sur- 
face of the whole globe with her possessions and 
military posts ; whose morning drum-beat, follow- 
ing the sun and keeping company with the hours, 
circles the earth with one continuous and un- 
broken strain of the martial airs of Eno-land." ^ 
We are thinking, of course, of Robert Clive and 
Warren Hastings, the founders of the British Em- 
pire in India.^ But what those conquerors did 
for England was to open and secure new marts 

1 Ante^ p. 48. Dated, Nov. 11, 1769. 

2 Works of Daniel Webster, vol.4, p. no. Speech on the Presi- 
dential Protest. 

3 Both of these great men were " writers " in the mercantile de- 
partments of the East India Company, and entered that service 
when each was in his eighteenth year. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON; 1 59 

for British fabrics and interests, and to give am- 
pler scope to her power. What Hamilton did 
was to vindicate the rights of every British sub- 
ject, and to add new glory to the principles of the 
British constitution : giving them a renewed and 
more competent embodiment in a Republic. The 
circumstances, in each case, directed each to the 
end gained. Hamilton's destiny called for a 
higher art, and purer, less selfish, genius than 
theirs. The letter^ is the key-note to his ambi- 
tious career. Let us, therefore, repeat his words 
to the full text : — 

" This serves to acknowledge the receipt of yours per Capt. 
Lowndes, which was delivered me yesterday. The truth of 
Captains Lightbowen and Lowndes' information is now veri- 
fied by the presence of your father and sister, for whose 
safe arrival I pray, and that they may convey that satisfac- 
tion to your soul that must naturally flow from the sight of 
absent friends in health ; and shall, for news this way, refer 
you to them. As to what you say respecting your soon hav- 
ing the happiness of seeing us all, I wish for an accomplish- 
ment of your hopes, provided they are concomitant with your 
welfare, otherwise not ; though I doubt whether I shall be 
present or not, for, to confess my weakness, Neddy, my am- 
bition is prevalent, so that I contemn the groveling condi- 
tion of a clerk or the like, to which my fortune condemns me, 
and would willingly risk my life, though not my character, to 
exalt my station. I am confident, Ned, that my youth ex- 
cludes me from any hopes of immediate preferment, nor do 
I desire it ; but I mean to prepare the way for futurity. I 'm 
no philosopher, you see, and may be said to build castles in 
^ It is addressed to " Edward Stevens, in New York." 



l6o LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

the air ; my folly makes me ashamed, and beg you '11 conceal 
it ; yet, Neddy, we have seen such schemes successful when 
the projector is constant. I shall conclude by saying, I wish 
there was a war. 

" P. S. — I this moment received yours, by William Smith, 
and am pleased to see you give such close attention to study." 

This is the earliest letter written by Hamilton 
which has come to public notice.-^ It is remark- 
able as the production of one so young. It is 
strong in its good sense, clear in conception, and 
firm in purpose. It shows a bold spirit and self- 
control. Qualities seldom together, and not akin. 
The greater value, however, of this letter lies in 
its internal evidence concerning those moral quali- 
ties of character by which he was guided in after- 
life. We see, by its date, that he could have been 
but recently entered, at most a few weeks, upon 
apprenticeship in that counting-house, when he 
reveals, with the frankness of ingenuous boyhood, 
that he doubts whether he will be in St. Croix 
when his young friend arrives there. But this 
disposition to seek in another sphere of usefulness 
a more elevating career did not lessen his current 
diligence. Whatever his hand found to do, that 
he did. It was by such diligence that, haply, the 
actual circumstances of his busy life, from child- 
hood, furnished his creative mind with the experi- 

^ The first written trace of his existence, it is said, is of 1766, 
when his name occurs, as witness to a legal paper executed in St. 
Croix — Bancroft's Hist, of United States, vol. 7, p. 79. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. l6l 

ence of practical affairs. The variety and excel- 
lence of that experience were rare. During his 
minority his occupations were certainly numerous, 
and, each in succession, various ; but he was not 
open to the imputation of instability. The curse 
of Reuben was not upon him. He excelled. He 
divulges to his boy-correspondent that it is am- 
bition which moves him : not so much a dislike 
to what he is at, as an aspiration to attain a some- 
thing not within the reach of the mercantile 
round to which his fortune condemned him. He 
would have that friend accomplish his desire, if 
his business welfare might surely allow it — other- 
wise not. He would not have his friend turn, 
even to gratify so natural a pleasure, from the 
road wherein the pursuit of duty lay. Success 
might be impaired — opportunity lost. An am- 
bitious impulse prevails over all thought for him- 
self and others. And yet he would not risk his 
character, though he would his life, to exalt his 
station. This proud regard, at the age of twelve 
years, for the " immediate jewel of the soul," good 
name, is not the least among the evidences of 
early maturity in intellect and morals. And his 
ambition was tempered by discretion : for he 
would not stir prematurely. His 3^outh must now 
exclude hopes of immediate preferment. He 
would contemplate the idea of coming fame — 
but not waste his days in idle wishes. He would 



l62 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

" prepare " the way for the future. Constancy to 
the project is necessary to success. He would be 
constant. Such courage and fidehty have suc- 
ceeded, and such may. We herein catch a first 
ghmpse, also, of his inborn inclination to lead and 
judge. He commends, and with the air of an 
" approved good master," his friend's " close appli- 
cation to study." Some have censured this dis- 
position as forwardness. Not so. That, which 
might have been assumption in others, was nature 
with him — and then his kind and manly heart 
generally conciliated where many might have 
offended. Finally, he wishes there was a war. 

All these indications enable us to perceive in 
him, at that early time, those elements of which 
his full life was the development and consumma- 
tion; and these aspirations have a sober-certainty 
about them which gives assurance that when the 
time does come he, at least, will be found ready. 
He wished for a war. The path of glory was still 
fresh with bright incentive. Only ten years had 
gone since Wolfe had fallen in the arms of Vic- 
tory, on the Heights of Abraham ; and the youth 
of England, with glowing hearts, gazed upon that 
apotheosis of heroic Patriotism.^ 

^ Benjamin West "told us a singular anecdote of Nelson, while 
we were looking at the picture of his death. Just before he went 
to sea for tiie last time, West sat next to him at a large entertain- 
ment given to him, and in the course of the dinner Nelson ex- 
pressed to Sir William Hamilton his regret, that in his youth he 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 1 63 

Hamilton had just returned from one of his 
mercantile journeys to St. Eustatia, when, in Au- 
gust, 1772, a most violent and destructive storm 
burst upon the Leeward Islands. A description 
of its fearful effects was published in a local news- 
paper ; the author was sought, and discovered by 
the Governor of the Island of St. Croix to be the 
boy Hamilton. This led to his talents, industry, 
and aspirations becoming known ; and arrange- 
ments were quickly made, offered to him and ac- 
cepted, by which a liberal education was provided 
for. So, in October, 1772, he left the West In- 
dies in a vessel bound for Boston. He did not 
remain in that city ; but, as the plan for his educa- 
tion required, went immediately to New York. 

When Hamilton left St. Croix to enter upon 
the course of a liberal education, he brought in- 
troductory and commendatory letters from his 

had not acquired some taste for art and some power of discrimina- 
tion. ' But,' said he, turning to West, ' there is one picture whose 
power I feel. I never pass a print-shop where your ' Death of 
Wolfe ' is in the window, without being stopped by it.' West, of 
course, made his acknowledgments, and Nelson went on to ask 
why he had painted no more like it. ' Because, my lord, there are 
no more subjects.' ' D — n it,' said the sailor, ' I did n't think of 
that,' and asked him to take a glass of champagne. ' But, my lord, 
I fear your intrepidity will yet furnish me another scene ; and, if it 
should, I shall certainly avail myself of it.' ' Will you .'' ' said Nel- 
son, pouring out bumpers, and touching his glass violently against 
West's, — 'will you, Mr. West? then I hope I will die in the next 
battle ! ' He sailed a few days after, and the result was on the 
canvas before us." — Hillard's Life of George Ticknor, vol. i, 
p. 63. 



1 64 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

friend Dr. Knox to the celebrated Dr. John 
Rodgers, Dr. John Mason, and WiUiam Living- 
ston.-^ Soon after his arrival in New York, he 
went to Elizabethtown, in " East-Jersey," and 
there presented the letter to Mr. Livingston at the 
" Liberty Hall : " a country seat, near to the town, 
to which that gentleman had retired on leaving 
the active practice of the law. 

The Livingston family were, like that of Ham- 
ilton, of Scotch origin. They traced by regular 
connections their descent from a time far beyond 
A. D. 1600, in which year James VL created Lord 
Livingston the Earl of Linlithgow. Their an- 
cestors were noted in the public affairs of Scot- 
land. A Mary Livingston was one of the " four 
Maries " who went with Mary Stuart to the 
French court.^ It is from Robert, a first cousin 
of that Mary Livingston, and the second son of 
the fourth Lord Livingston, that the American 
branch is lineally descended. John, a grandson 
of that Robert, was the well-known divine who 
went in 1650 to Breda as a commissioner to ne- 
gotiate terms with Charles H., for that monarch's 

1 Sedgwick's Life of William Livingston, p. 157, and Life of 
Hamilton, by his son, vol. i, p. 9. 

2 " Last night the queen had four Maries, 
To-night she '11 hae but three : 
There was Mary Seyton, and Mary Beaton, 
And Mary Livingstone, and me." 
Mrs. Jameson's Celebrated Female Sovereigns, p. 131. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 1 65 

restoration to the throne. He, finally, settled in 
Rotterdam, abandoning his native country that he 
might be unmolested in his religious non-conform- 
ity. He began to publish there an edition of the 
Bible; but, dying, August 9, 1672, left it incom- 
plete. His son Robert gained an intimate knowl- 
edge of the Dutch language during the years he 
was living at his father's home in Rotterdam. After 
his father's death he came to the Province of New 
York, and settled at Albany ; where the earliest 
circumstance known of him there is, that, in 1676, 
he was Secretary to the Commissaries. He became 
the owner of large quantities of land ; ^ married 
Alida, widow of the Patroon, Nicholas Van Renn- 
sellaer, and a daughter of Philip Pieterse Schuy- 
ler, and thereby united himself with two of the 
first families of the Province, 

In William Livingston's hospitable, intellectual, 
well-ordered " Hall " the young West Indian was 
received with cordiality as a member of the fam- 
ily. There he found a home, it seems, during 
those months when he was attending the gram- 
mar-school at Elizabethtown, which he had, with- 
out delay, entered. His diligence and intelligence 
soon attracted the attention of those about him. 

1 Those lands were incorporated into the Manor and Lordship 
of Livingston by a grant dated July 22, 1686, with the privilege of 
holding a court-leet and a court-baron, and the right of advowson 
of all the churches within the boundaries of the estate. — Sedg- 
wick's Life of William Livingston, p. 25. 



1 66 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

He continued his studies during the winter even- 
ings until the hour of midnight had gone; and 
during the summer, in the after-dawn, he would 
go to retired places in the adjoining fields, and 
in shady coverts commit to memory, and reflect 
upon, the lessons for that day.-^ At this time his 
absorbed manner, and abstract, intense mood were 
observed, and were respected. He had already 
the habit of muttering his thoughts in a low tone.^ 
But he was not a prig nor a mere book-worm. 
When the tasks of the school-room were done, 
then he was the natural, light-hearted, companion. 
Providence had placed him in pleasant as well as 
profitable places. In the agreeable family of Mr. 
Livingston there were " three young ladies of dis- 
tinguished merit, sensible, polite, and easy. Their 
manners were soft and engaging."^ Miss Sally, 
the third daughter, was married [May, 1 774] a year 
and a half after this time, to John Jay ; then " a 
young gentleman of the law," * in New York. And 
so it was, that Hamilton had, from his first com- 
ing into the province, opened to him a social in- 
tercourse, free from the fashionable dissipation of 
the neighboring city, suitable to his habits and 
taste ; and it brought him in daily association with 

1 Life of Hamiltoti, by his son, vol. i, p. 8. 

2 See ante, p. 46. 

8 Life of General Nathanael Greene, vol. i, p. 356. 
* Life and Works of John Adams, vol. 2, p. 350, 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 1 67 

the best families of the colony. In Mr. Livingston 
himself Hamilton discovered a spirit as eager and 
a disposition as dominant as his own. It is a nec- 
essary inference that in Livingston's company, and 
in that of the other prominent men who formed 
the social circle which gathered at " Liberty Hall," 
the young scholar learned many things concerning 
the contentions between the mother country and 
the colonies. Here he got certainly his first prac- 
tical lessons in the policy of encouraging and 
protecting home industries. Among Livingston's 
closest friends were the celebrated divines and 
controversialists Dr. John Rodgers and Dr. John 
Mason. To these gentlemen, also, Hamilton had 
delivered the other letters of introduction from 
their former co-laborer Dr. Knox. They were the 
chief assistants of Livingston when he wrote for, 
perhaps was really the editor of, ' The American 
Whig," the party organ in the city of New York. 
During the fierce memorable opposition made to 
the project to establish an episcopate in America 
by the Church of England he had the active aid 
of Dr. Rodgers at least. Livingston in early pub- 
lic life professed to think that every man had a 
right to think for himself, as he shall answer for 
himself ; and that it was unreasonable for one to 
be angry with another for being of different princi- 
ples, as surely that other had the same pretense to 
quarrel with him. But then, and ever, he stoutly 



1 68 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

defended his own opinions and interests ; fre- 
quently with so much vigorous use of retahation 
as to brinor him under the censure of less ardent 
people, and, on one occasion, to incur the disci- 
pline of the law.-^ He inherited the non-conform- 
ing bias of his distinguished, self-exiled, ancestor 
who died at Rotterdam. It was resistance rather 
than aggressiveness. Some years before 1772 he 
had written with great ability, clearness of thought 
and of expression, a controversial pamphlet, which 
cast a revealing light upon the colonial politics of 
New York;^ and, in the columns of the "Whig," 
the history of those earnest and bitter times are 
vividly exposed. It is to be remarked that it is in 
one of its issues [1768] the earliest note for the 
independence of America is sounded. 

" The day dawns in which the foundation of this mighty em- 
pire is to be laid, by the establishment of a regular American 
Constitution. All that has hitherto been done, seems to be 
little besides the collection of materials for the construction 
of this glorious fabric. 'T is time to put them together. The 
transfer of the European part of the great family is so swift, 
and our growth so vast, that before seven years roll over 
our heads, the first stone must be laid. Peace or war, famine 
or plenty, poverty or affluence, in a word, no circumstance, 

^ Life of Livingston^ p. 54 and 76. He was denounced from the 
pulpit, and the Mayor recommended the grand jury to present some 
articles of his writing as libelous. 

2 The pamphlets on both sides of these controversies were re- 
published [1769] in two volumes, and they are most valuable in the 
history of that period. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 1 69 

whether prosperous or adverse, can happen to our parent, nay, 
no conduct of hers, whether wise or imprudent ; no possible 

temper on her part will put a stop to this building 

What an era is this to America ! and how loud the call to 
vigilance and activity ! As we conduct, so will it fare with us 
and our children." 1 

The separation of the colonies, or any of them, 
from England, does not appear to have been his 
wish individually. But he spoke of it as a proba- 
ble result from the effects of events then passing 
and arising. In another number he had written, 
or published as his own sentiments and as the 
general state of public opinion, that he " could not 
look on the late tumults and commotions occa- 
sioned by the Stamp Act, without the most tender 
concern, knowing the consequences, ever to be 
dreaded, of a rupture between the mother country 
and these plantations ; which is an event never to 
be desired by those who are true friends to either." 
We know that it took six years more of bad ad- 
ministration to alienate his affectionate obedience 
to the English crown. His professional position 
while at the bar of the Province of New York 
was in its front rank. We have been particular 
in noting the family, the individuality and career 
of William Livingston, because it will appear that 
his influence left ineffaceable lines upon the prin- 
ciples and conduct of Hamilton. 

^ Life of William Livingston, p. 146. 



I/O LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

At this epoch, [i 770-1 775] it will be well, like- 
wise, to reflect, there was a class of debating socie- 
ties in some of the principal cities of the Provinces 
which must be considered peculiar to America and 
to those times. They were not arenas for the ex- 
ercises of young men preparing for professional 
and public lives. They were composed of able and 
tried men, of acknowledged eminence. One of the 
societies, called the Sodality, had been in existence 
in Boston since the beginning of 1 765, the year of 
the Stamp Act, when it was organized by the ad- 
vice and efforts of Jeremy Gridley, the Attorney 
General of the Crown.^ It was limited in the 
number of members. John Adams was of the 
number. The leading object of those Sodalities, 
though the word means a companionship at the 
table, was to encourage a more profound and am- 
ple study of the civil law, historical and political 

^ His career then was drawing near its close. He belonged to a 
former generation. James Otis was among those who studied law 
with him. He died September lo, 1767. " Let us form our style," 
he said to the law-club, " upon the ancients and the best English 
authors. I hope, I expect to see at the bar, in consequence of this 
Sodality, a purity, an eloquence, and a spirit surpassing anything 
that has ever appeared in America." — Life of John Adams, vol. i, 
pp. 89, 90, 107. 

The passage of the Stamp Act, March, 1765, revived the doc- 
trines announced by, and the arguments of, Otis in the case of the 
Writs of Assistance ; and, through these clubs, found a means to 
reach the understanding and the hearts of the people. John Adams 
was a close attendant at his Sodality, though his residence was 
ten miles distant from the place of its meeting. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 171 

jurisprudence, and of the law of nature. They 
bred many of that race of public advocates and 
statesmen whose knowledge and wisdom created 
the era in state-household which, so unexpectedly 
to Europe, commenced in 1774. Perhaps, never 
have the writings of the Civilians received from the 
members of the law-profession in any English- 
speaking country in modern times, and from other 
persons in general public affairs, such universal at- 
tention, and from so many apt and competent dev- 
otees, as in America during the years immediately 
preceding the Revolution.^ Such a society, or 
law-club, had been formed in the City of New 
York, in 1770. It was called "The Moot" In 
this club, unlike that in Boston, party politics " of 
the Province " were prohibited as not a subject for 
discussion. Livingston was, until he removed into 
East New-Jersey, its President. The questions were 
learnedly and gravely discussed, frequently in writ- 
ten essays, by men foremost at the bar. Its re- 
solves were cited as in the nature of authoritative 
decisions,^ and so much influenced the judges, 

^ See a)ite, pp. 50-53. Perhaps it should be added to the ob- 
servation of Buckle, already quoted at pages 51-52, that of this 
state of society the arguments of Hamilton, Pinckney, Webster, 
Legare, and the great judgments of Marshall, were, at later periods, 
also the natural result. 

2 A remarkable instance of the authority gained by some lawyers 
individually at this time, as oracles of the law, is that of Daniel 
Dulany, of Maryland. His opinions are published in the same vol- 
ume with the decisions of the General Court and Court of Appeals 



172 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

that on one occasion the Chief Justice sent an is- 
sue of law to The Moot for its advice thereon.^ 

In the midst of these social, political, and relig- 
ious circumstances Hamilton's inquisitive mind 
could get abundant means for information and ob- 
jects for contemplation. Yet, it seems more cred- 
ible, that, however he might have yielded an odd 
hour or so of an evening to listen to discussion, 
the tenor of his daily life set in calm and patient 
even course through a student-life. We know that 
in a few months he was completely prepared for 
examination on entering college. But the " ambi- 
tion " that once " was prevalent " lay only dormant 
near his heart, and it appeared to have subsided 
into the quiet habit and routine of the reclusive 
scholar. He would write essays on " politics." A 
love for Aristotle inspired him : for that author 
was among those he read. He composed a pro- 
logue and epilogue for a play, in which the offi- 
cers of the British garrison, stationed near by, 

of that State. — Life of Chief Justice Taney, pp. 132-133 ; Life of 
John Adams, vol. i, p. 168. 

^ This club met for the last time January 6, 1775. It may inter- 
est New York lawyers of the present day to learn who were mem- 
bers of this famous Moot. They were : Samuel Jones, John Jay, 
Benjamin Kissam, David Mathews, William Wickham, Thomas 
Smith, Whitehead Hicks, Rudolphus Ritzema, William Livingston, 
Richard Morris, William Smith, John Morine Scott, James Duane, 
John T. Kempe, Robert R. Livingston, Jr., Egbert Benson, Peter 
Van Schaack and Stephen De Lancey. These names then stood 
high, many of them subsequently acquired national fame, and be- 
came historical personages. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 1 73 

were the actors. A young lady of his acquaintance 
died, and an elegy said to possess merit came from 
his pen ; and one night, while watching the corpse 
of a dead infant, the child of his friend Elias Bou- 
dinot, of New Jersey, he wrote verses intended to 
offer consoling thoughts to the bereaved mother. 
These are mentioned because significant of his 
manner of life during those preparatory months 
— nothing remarkable in themselves, yet showing 
his early literary tastes and sympathy for those 
who suffer. 

He was now qualified to enter upon a collegiate 
course. His preference was for Princeton ; and 
thither he went accompanied by one who was, per- 
haps, his earliest friend in America, Mr. Hercules 
Mulligan. Mulligan was an Irishman. He was 
a brother of the junior member of the firm of 
Kortwright & Company, to which firm produce 
was consigned from the West Indies to be sold, 
and the proceeds applied to Hamilton's support. 
The amount was likely not more than sufficient for 
his simplest needs. When Hamilton came to re- 
side in New York, it was at Mulligan's house that 
he made his home. Mulligan became very active 
soon after this time in the politics of the Revolu- 
tion ; was chosen by the citizens of New York a 
member of the committee of one hundred; and 
after the battle of Long Island, while leaving New 
York, he was captured on his way, brought back 



174 I^IFE AND EPOCH OF 

and detained in the city during the war. Now, — 
that we are speaking of this friend of Hamilton, 
— it may as well be mentioned at once, that, 
when Hamilton received in 1777 his appointment 
to Washington's staff, Mulligan became a confi- 
dential correspondent of the commander-in-chief, 
and furnished him most valuable intelligence. At 
the end of the war, when Washington had re- 
entered the city at the head of the American 
army, he showed his approbation and respect for 
Mr. Mulligan by taking his first breakfast there 
with him. 

At Princeton College the young candidate pre- 
sented himself to Dr. Witherspoon, its President. 
The novel application was denied. The established 
rules of the institution would not allow such a re- 
quest : for with his habitual address, founded cer- 
tainly on a true knowledge of himself, Hamilton 
desired " to be admitted to either class which his 
attainments would justify; but upon the condition 
that he might be permitted to advance from class 
to class, with as much rapidity as his exertions 
would enable him to do." ^ He had undergone, 
however, a private examination by President With- 
erspoon, and that gentleman expressed his regret 
that the request was inadmissible, " inasmuch as 
he was convinced that the young gentleman would 
do honor to any seminary in which he should be 

^ Life of Ha7nilton, by his son, vol. i, p. 9. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. I 75 

educated." The first choice not being accessible, 
Hamilton turned his attention to King's College/ 
in the City of New York. Here he was accepted, 
and by special privilege. Under the supervision 
of the tutors he was to proceed in the regularly 
prescribed course of studies, yet according to a 
plan which he had laid out for himself. President 
Cooper must have been astonished at the forward 
youth. And coming, as the request did, from a 
boy delicate in frame, somewhat below the middle 
height, more youthful in appearance than he was 
in years, the reasons for astonishment must have 
been increased. He was not an anxious, pale, 
" o'er informed " ^ looking lad ; nor brusque and in- 
trusive ; but bright, active, generous, self-reliant ; 
one whose evidently intelligent decision of char- 
acter convinced all that he approached of his abil- 
ity to perform well whatever he determined to un- 
dertake. 

Few incidents of his life at college are told. It 
was likely one of a purely studious kind. What 
little we learn of it evinces that it was so. Indeed 
he had formed, or developed from his really sensi- 
tive moral nature, a religious cast of thought. " At 



^ Now Columbia College. 

2 " A fiery soul, which, working out its way, 
Fretted the pigmy-body to decay, 
And o'er informed the tenement of clay." 
Dryden's Absalom and Achitophel, Pt. i., lines 156-158. 



176 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

this time he was attentive to public worship, and 
in the habit of praying on his knees night and 
morning. I Hved in the same room with him for 
some time," writes Robert Troup, who was one of 
his three intimate collegiate friends, " and I have 
often been powerfully affected by the fervor and 
eloquence of his prayers. He had read many of 
the polemical writers on religious subjects, and 
he was a zealous believer in the fundamental doc- 
trines of Christianity. I confess, that the argu- 
ments, with which he was accustomed to justify 
his belief, have tended in no small degree to con- 
firm my own faith in revealed religion." 

His life-long friend Edward Stevens was, also, 
his fellow-collegian ; and, together with Troup and 
Nicholas Fish, they were members, all four, of a 
debating club. We shall have occasions to speak 
of them again. They were then his warm friends, 
and remained so to the end. The selfish man 
may be designated as one who is habitually loose 
in his friendships, constant in his enmities. Ham- 
ilton was constant to his friendships. 

" The friends thou hast, and their adoption tried, 
Grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel." ^ 

Nicholas Cruger, his old employer at St. Croix, 
had settled in New York, and must have contin- 
ued an observer and admirer of the brilliant and 
noble career of his former clerk. Hercules Mul- 

^ Hamlet, act i., scene iii. ; original reading in first folio. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 1 77 

ligan lived long enough to speak to other gener- 
ations of his friend, " the great man that was un- 
timely taken away," and how that, when Hamilton 
was a collegian and an inmate of his house, he 
" used to sit the evening with the family, writing 
doggerel verses for their amusement, and was al- 
ways amiable and cheerful." ^ It was Edward Ste- 
vens, who, as physician, attended Hamilton and 
his wife during their sickness from the epidemic 
fever which panic-struck Philadelphia, "fast de- 
populating the city and suspending business, both 
public and private;" and it was this earlier friend 
who, in 1 799, he caused to be appointed upon a 
most delicate and important mission to assure 
Toussaint I'Ouverture that a commercial inter- 
course might be opened between St. Domingo 
and the United States of America.^ It was Nich- 
olas Fish, who was one of the executors of Ham- 
ilton's will, and who afterwards called his own son 
Hamilton.^ And Robert Troup ever retained the 

^ Life of Haviilton, by his son, vol. i, p. 10. 

2 Works of Hamilton, vol. 6, pp. 395, 398. Reminiscences of 
James A. Hamilt07i, pp. 2, 25. In a letter written to the physi- 
cians of Philadelphia, after his recovery from this sickness, Ham- 
ilton writes : " I trust I now am completely out of danger. This I 
attribute, under God, to the skill and care of my friend Dr. Ste- 
vens, a gentleman from the Island of St. Croix, and to whose tal- 
ents I can attest from an acquaintance begun in early youth." 

8 The Hon. Hamilton Fish, who has been Governor of the State 
of New York, Senator of the United States of America, and Sec- 
retary of State under the Grant administration. 
12 



178 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

friendship and confidence of his fellow-collegian, 
and by the influence of Hamilton he ultimately 
entered, as its agent in the western part of the 
State of New York, the service of the Holland 
Land Company,^ which led him to prosperity. 
These friends, with that which we are able to 
gather from what Hamilton himself has left re- 
corded, are the chief trustworthy sources from 
whence have come to us, through traditions and 
wTitings, the incidents of those early days of Ham- 
ilton's life. May be, it was from sympathy with 
the studies and choice of young Stevens, who be- 
came in after years so eminent a physician, that 
Hamilton attended anatomical lectures given by 
Dr. Clossey, and so far engaged himself for the 

1 Life of De Witt Clinton, by David Hosack, p. 95. Re7ninis- 
cences of fajnes A. Hamilton, p. 4. Notwithstanding the Holland 
Land Company declined, and its resources became nearly ex- 
hausted, the intelligence and spirit of the entei^prise led to at least 
one grand, successful project, the Erie Canal ; uniting the waters of 
our great lakes with those of the Hudson and the ocean. Public 
attention was thereby partially directed to the importance of inland 
navigation, which became the subject of repeated conversations 
between Robert Troup, Alexander Hamilton, Gouverneur Morris, 
Robert R. Livingston, Stephen Van Rensselaer, Thomas Eddy, and 
other distinguished citizens, who were in habits of friendship and 
intimacy with General Philip Schuyler. Hamilton himself was so 
fully persuaded by the idea that, at no distant period, this coun- 
try would be widely engaged in the construction of numerous ca- 
nals, that he resolved to educate one of his sons to be a canal 
engineer, believing that he could not be destined to a more honor- 
able and useful employment. This was told by Robert Troup to 
Dr. Hosack. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. I 79 

profession of medicine, that he was for a time a 
pupil in the medical school of Dr. Samuel Bard.^ 

The special privilege granted by King's College 
was approved by the boy's conduct and cleverness. 
The thoroughness, the rapidity, with which he ac- 
quired knowledge, advanced him in the course long 
before the time required by the rules of the usual 
curriculum. His application was very close and 
severe during those days ; though he was proudly 
conscious of his genius. His application was 
equal to his talents. A favorite author and his 
own plan of education concurred in proving to 
him, that " natural abilities are like natural plants, 
tha<- need pruning by study." ^ From memoranda,^ 
made by him during and immediately after his 
colle2:iate term, we are enabled to o-et information 
as to the kinds of books which he liked to in- 

1 "John and Samuel Bard, father and son, were, when Hamilton 
was at King's College, distinguished physicians in the city of New 
York. The father was born and educated at Philadelphia, and was 
a familiar friend of Benjamin Franklin. He settled at New York, 
in 1745. In 1759 ^ vessel came into that port with many of its 
crew sick of a malignant fever; John Bard induced the public au- 
thorities to purchase Bedloe's Island and establish a hospital upon 
it. This was the beginning of the present system of quarantine 
for that city. He was the President of the first New York Medical 
Society. It was Samuel, his son, who was the founder of the med- 
ical school of King's College. His son was married to a daughter 
of Nicholas Cruger." — Life of Samuel Bard, by Professor John 
McVickar, p. 89. 

^ Francis Bacon. 

2 Ha/nilton^s Works, vol. I, p. 4. 



l8o LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

dulge in beyond the prescribed studies. Among 
those, which appear to have been his common com- 
panions, were Cudworth's " Intellectual System ; " 
Hobbes' " Dialogues ; " Bacon's " Essays ; " Plu- 
tarch's " Morals ; " Cicero's " Morals ; " Montaigne's 
"Essays;" Rousseau's " -^milius ; " Demosthenes' 
" Orations ; " and Aristotle's " Politics." He contin- 
ued during those days to search into, with increas- 
ing ardor, the theories and practice of commer- 
cial transactions, and the nature, uses, and effects 
of money as an instrument of exchange and an 
expression of standard value. Raits' " Dictionary 
of Trade and Commerce " and the " Lex Mercato- 
ria " were mastered. Aside from the peculiar crea- 
tive faculty of Hamilton, his fervor and persistent 
labor in intellectual pursuits reminds us of that 
other noble student, statesman, and philosopher, 
Francis Horner ; who, dying at the age of thirty- 
six, had already durably impressed his own genera- 
tion with the stamp of his comprehensive abili- 
ties and devotion to the public service.^ 

A storm was gathering now [1774], in the polit- 
ical heavens, more portentous than that which had 
two years before swept over the Leeward Islands. 
Its effect upon Hamilton's destiny was to be as 

1 There are few books richer in incentives for our young men 
than the memoirs of this eminent Englishman. It "is worthy," 
said Sir James Mackintosh, who knew him well, "of serious con- 
templation, by those more especially who enter on the slippery path 
of public affairs." 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. i8l 

controlling and more determinate. But the colle- 
gian, if he noticed, was not distracted by the out- 
ward world. The academic grove claimed his 
duty. There was a quiet, retiring spot, then called 
Batteau Street,^ where stately trees formed shady 
groves. There he took his daily walk, conning 
his daily task. The spirit of ambition came not 
near him there. Yet the time is come when he 
shall be summoned forth to " the battles, sieges, 
fortunes " of an eventful life. He is to have his 
wish. A war is near at hand. Not one, as he so 
early wished, which might maintain and extend 
the dominion of England; but one that will end 
by dividing its empire, yet vindicating its ancient 
principles of constitutional liberty. 

^ Now Dye Street. 



CHAPTER V. 
THE LIFE AND EPOCH. 

[I774-] 

^TAT. 17. 



CHAPTER V. 

[1774.] 

It was in truth an Epoch. Many things had 
been engendered which, in other days and other 
lands, gave birth to great arguments and noble 
deeds. It saw established the Episcopal order in 
America, and the minds of the colonists recon- 
ciled to its introduction — it influenced the origin, 
but not the crimes of the French Revolution — it 
began the argument which ended in the restora- 
tion of the trial by jury in cases of criminal pros- 
ecution for libel; and initiated the moral force 
which, overcoming the prejudices and law enact- 
ments of centuries, emancipated the Catholics of 
Ireland. 

The social and political history of those times, 
which preceded, and by a series of evolving 
events developed, the revolutionary spirit which 
brought about the separation of the American 
colonies from the crown of England has, in its 
controversial literary phases, yet to be written. 
When written it will discover to practical states- 
men sources of political wisdom which, in our 



1 86 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

present days of vague impulse and unpropor- 
tioned thought, should not willingly be neglected. 
It was, as w^e have said before,^ an epoch in which 
the civil law regained for a time its liberal do- 
minion over the minds of a race of intelligent 
men. It was an epoch in which the undying 
principles of the ancient Saxon constitution of 
Alfred wTre restored, and became the foundation 
of a new form of government : reestablishing that 
ancient heritage for the children of his ancient 
race. Men were taught again to look beyond 
the Magna Charta for the fresh well-springs of 
their inalienable, absolute rights, and for the regu- 
lations of an orderly liberty, — were reminded 
that liberty itself was better understood and more 
fully enjoyed by their ancestors before the first 
Norman went into England than ever since ; and 
that Runnymede and 1688 were only efforts to 
assert, and have recognized, the ancient constitu- 
tion of the realm.^ The principles of that consti- 

^ See ante, pp. 48-54. 

2 From Hallam's View of the State of Ettrope during the Mid- 
dle Ages (vol. 2, pp. 323, 324), I quote the following reflections to 
show that that which we call " progress " is, in historical truth, a 
recurrence to those primary principles from which nations have 
wandered, or have been driven by usurpation. There is not an im- 
portant moral or political reformation related in history but has 
been equally an assertion and reestablishment of an ancient well- 
ordered freedom, and a manifestation of a living power. " One is 
surprised," says Hallam, "at the forbearance displayed by the 
barons, till they took up arms at length in that confederacy, which 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 1S7 

tution were soon to find, in memorable events, 
opportunities which would test and exemplify 
their efficiency. The People were to be taught 
by those examples the philosophy, and power, 
and utility of abstract rights. Such ideas were 
hidden things to the People — but now they 
were about to be made manifest to the whole 
world. The People learned, at an early day, that 
arbitrary government was unknown to the laws 
of England, and could exist only by usurpation 
and toleration. They saw for themselves that 

ended in establishing the Great Charter of Liberties. As this was 
the first effort towards a legal government, so is it beyond compar- 
ison the most important event in our history, except that Revolu- 
tion without which its benefits would have been rapidly annihi- 
lated All that has since been obtained is little more than 

as confirmation or commentary ; and if every subsequent law were 
to be swept away, there would still remain the bold features that 
distinguish a free from a despotic monarchy An equal dis- 
tribution of civil rights to all classes of freemen forms the pecul- 
iar beauty of the charter. In this just solicitude for the people, 
and in the moderation which infringed upon no essential preroga- 
tive of the monarchy, we may perceive a liberality and patriotism 
very unhke the selfishness which is sometimes rashly imputed to 
those ancient barons. And, as far as we are guided by historical 
testimony, two great men, the pillars of our church and state, may 
be considered as entitled beyond the rest to the glory of this monu- 
ment : Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury, and William, 
Earl of Pembroke. To their temperate zeal for a legal government, 
England was indebted during that critical period for the two great- 
est blessings that patriotic statesmen could confer : the establish- 
ment of civil liberty upon an immovable basis, and the preservation 
of national independence." 

Those who wish to pursue thoughts on an associate theme, as 



1 88 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

the spurious form of an illegal device, entitled 
writs of assistance, in the hands of even crown- 
ofificers, and upheld by the extraordinary judicial 
sanction of judicial partisans, could not enter the 
sanctuary of the humblest habitation ; but that 
every man's house was, indeed, his castle, capa- 
ble of laughing to scorn all illegitimate assault. 
England soon shared the benefit which emanated 
from this success of a lawful resistance to an un- 
constitutional process ; and every home in Eng- 
land was made more secure, when she followed 
the example of her censured colony and ended in 
her own land the inquisitorial process of writs of 
assistance.-^ But the attempt itself in the province 
of Massachusetts Bay had a circumstantial result 
there of great importance for America : it brought 
James Otis for the first time into public life, and 
started by the doctrines then proclaimed by him, 
thoughts which, under other and future minis- 
terial aggressions upon colonial rights, moved 
the general heart and mind to acknowledge, in 
1776, that the mother country and the Ameri- 
can colonies had become politically separate and 
apart forever. This was in 1761. The struggle 
with France for an ascendency of dominion on 

just in principle as they are eloquent and correct in expression, 
will receive great pleasure and edification from reading the sermon 
of Canon Liddon concerning " The Law of Progress." — Univer- 
sity Sermons, p. 25. 
^ See ante, p. 61. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 1 89 

the Western Continent had not yet ceased. It 
was two years after [1763] that the treaty of 
Paris withdrew from the New England colonies 
the direct antagonism of the province of Quebec. 
The French were their rivals in the great fisher- 
ies. Also, an active, irreligious, antipathy had al- 
ways existed between the French inhabitants of 
Canada and the Englishry of the adjoining terri- 
tories; and during the war, then just ended, the 
hostility of the colonists of Massachusetts Bay 
was stimulated to a greater degree by the ancient 
grudge which they bore to all who were of the 
communion of the Catholic Church, and to those 
who followed the banners of France. Of that 
feud Catholic emancipation in Ireland was to 
become the not intended, not foreseen product.^ 
Who may deny that there is a Divinity which 
shapes the ends which man proposes, and that 
man's error may work the purposes of God .? 
That peace of 1763 with France — England now 
in possession of Canada, " her American domin- 
ion stretching without dispute from the Atlan- 
tic to the Mississippi; from the gulf of Mexico to 
the Hudson Bay " — seemed to make England 
at length, an empire, comprehensive and united, 
and capable of accomplishing the aspirations of her 
most ambitious subjects. The name of the elder 
Pitt was a tower of strength to his country. Hei 

^ Bancroft's History of the United States, vol. 7, p. 1 56. 



I90 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

fame was exalted above that of other nations. 
None gloried more in this triumph than her own 
children of the American colonies. The name 
of Fort Duquesne, near the confluence of the 
Monongahela and the Alleghany rivers, was 
changed to Fort Pitt/ and the citizens of New 
York erected in a public place a statue in honor 
of the great commoner. It was the arms of the 
colonists which had given vigorous, perhaps de- 
cisive, aid to the grand achievement of the British 
Empire in North America. The House of Bur- 
gesses of Virginia, on behalf of its colony, gave 
thanks to Colonel George Washington, — when 
he returned from the successful campaign which 
established the right of the English crown to the 
possession of the valley of the Ohio, — for dis- 
tinguished military services " rendered to his 
country."^ And James Otis spoke the universal 
sentiment of the American colonists at this mo- 

^ Marshall's Life of Washington, vol. i, p- 3 and p. 26. 

2 Sparks^ Life of Was/ii?tg/on, vol. i, pp. 107, 108. It was on 
this occasion that the well-known incident occurred which is re- 
lated in Wirt's Life of Patrick Henry, p. 45 : Washington, at that 
time in the twenty-seventh year of his age, "rose to express his ac- 
knowledgments for the honor ; but such was his trepidation and con- 
fusion that he could not give distinct utterance to a single syllable. 
He blushed, stammered, and trembled for a second; when the 
speaker [Mr. Robinson] relieved him by a stroke of address. " Sit 
down, Mr. Washington ; your modesty equals your valor, and that 
surpasses the power of any language which I possess." — Sparks' 
Life of Washington, vol. 2, pp. 327, 328, note, also relates the in- 
cident. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 191 

ment, as faithfully as John Adams did two years 
afterwards, under changed circumstances, when 
he exultingly said to the people of Boston : " We 
in America have abundant reasons to rejoice. 
The heathen are driven out, and the Canadians 
conquered. The British dominion now extends 
from sea to sea, and from the great rivers to the 
ends of the earth. Liberty and knowledge, civil 
and religious, will be co-extended, improved, and 
preserved to the latest posterity. No constitu- 
tion of government has appeared in the world 
so admirably adapted to these great purposes 
as that of Great Britain. Every British subject 
in America is, of common right, entitled to all 
the essential privileges of Britons. By particu- 
lar charters particular privileges are justly grant- 
ed, in consideration of undertaking to begin so 
glorious an empire as British America. Some 
weak and wicked minds have endeavored to in- 
fuse jealousies with regard to the colonies ; the 
true interests of Great Britain and her planta- 
tions are mutual ; and what God in his provi- 
dence has united let no man dare attempt to 
sunder." ^ Bold and grand suggestions came 

^ Hutchinson's History of Massachusetts, vol. 3, pp. 10 1, 102 ; 
Bancroft's History of the United States, vol. 5, p. 90. Otis subse- 
quently reiterated this expression as to the theoretical excellence of 
the English constitution : " The British constitution in theory 
and in the present [1764] administration of it in general, comes 
nearest the idea of perfection of any that has been reduced to prac- 



192 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

from the restless speculations of patriots, who 
wished to see England as supreme and as con- 
solidated, as her dominions were now extensive 
and assured. While the voice of Otis had uttered 
that which had ever abided in the heart of the 
People of America, it was the piercing intellect 
of Benjamin Franklin which gave system and 
plan to a majestic idea, which arose before the 
mind of only thoughtful and few men on each 
side of the Atlantic. A systematic consolidation 
of the whole British Empire, by a regular plan of 
representation, — the representatives coming to a 
central point from every part of its realm and de- 
pendencies, — was thought by those few men to 
be provident and feasible. There was something, 
it was conceived, as wise as magnificent in the 
idea of an imperial congress of such an empire, 
embracing some of the fairest and richest por- 
tions of the four quarters of the globe. Franklin, 
by that ample scope of fertile apprehension be- 
yond the stretch of ordinary minds, and which 
marks his words and deeds as above those of 
any other known person of that age, contem- 

tice ; and, if the principles of it are adhered to, it will, according 
to the infallible predictions of Harrington, always keep the Britons 
uppermost in Europe." — Otis' Rights of the Colonists, p. 21. It 
is well to bear in memory how early such an opinion became settled 
in the minds of the colonists, became the leading idea of Ham- 
ilton and others, and how the system grew to be thought the best 
and most natural model for the new form of government in 1787. — 
See Writings of John Adams, vol. 3, p. 20. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 1 93 

plated that such a consolidation and representa- 
tion would inevitably lead to a transfer of the 
actual seat of the government of the British Em- 
pire. Poets seem to have shared the inspiring 
theme, and George Berkeley, Bishop of Cloyne, 
" with something of prophetic strain," sung that 

" Westward the course of empire takes its way, 
The first four acts already past ; 
The fifth shall crown the drama with the day, 
Earth's noblest empire is the last." ^ 

And, in the rapt vision of Milton,^ enthusiasm dis- 

^ "Verses on the Prospect of planting Arts and Learning in 
America." — Berkeley'' s Works, vol. 2, pp. 443-444, folio edition, 
Dublin, 1764. It is said that these verses were written at New- 
port, America. — Rhode Island Historical Coll., vol. 3, p. 36. 
The other following stanzas of the poem are in the same vein and 
to the same purport : — 

" The muse, disgusted at an age and clime, 
Barren of every glorious theme. 
In distant lands now waits a better time, 
Producing subjects worthy fame." 



" There shall be sung another golden age, 
The rise of empire and of arts, 
The good and great inspiring epic rage. 
The wisest heads and noblest hearts. 

" Not such as Europe broods in her decay : 
Such as she bred when fresh and young, 
When heavenly flame did animate her clay. 
By future poets shall be sung." 



^ We allude to the following famous passage from Milton's 
Areopagitica : " When the cheerfulness of the people is so sprightly 
13 



194 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

cerned another and an elder inspired promise that 
the hope, born of an enthusiastic love of country 
and loyalty, should yet see the British Empire be- 
come as one, and its seat of government removed 
to and established in America. The " Plan for 
Perpetuating the British Empire," drawn by Frank- 
lin,^ if the paper had been preserved to our time, 

up, as that it has, not only wherewith to guard well its own freedom 
and safety, but to spare, and to bestow upon the solidest and sub- 
limest points of controversy, and new invention, it betoken us not 
degenerated, nor drooping to a fatal decay, by casting off the old 
and wrinkled skin of corruption to outlive these pangs and wax 
young again, entering the glorious ways of truth and prosperous 
virtue, destined to become great and honorable in these latter ages. 
Methinks I see in my mind a noble and puissant nation rousing 
herself like a strong man after sleep, and shaking her invincible 
locks : methinks I see her as an eagle mewing her mighty youth, 
and kindling her undazzled eyes at the full midday beam , purging 
and unsealing her long abused sight at the fountain itself of heav- 
enly radiance, while the whole noise of timorous and flocking 
birds, with those also that love the twilight, flutter about, amazed 
at what she means, and in their envious gabble would prognosticate 
a year of sects and schism." 

^ Sparks' Life and Writings of Frankliii^ vol. 7, pp. 366-367 ; 
and Tudor's Life of Otis, pp. 199 and 392. In writing to his son 
(Governor Franklin) from London, November 25, 1767, giving some 
account of his scheme for planting one settlement at the mouth of 
the Ohio, and another at Detroit, he adds : " My Lord (Clare) told 
me one pleasant circumstance, namely : that he had shown this 
paper to the Dean of Gloucester (Dr. Tucker) to hear his opinion 
of the matter ; who very sagaciously remarked, that he was sure 
that paper was drawn up by Dr. Franklin ; he saw him in every 
paragraph ; adding, that Dr. FrankHn wanted to remove the seat of 
government to America ; that, said he, is his constant plan." 

The Portuguese experiment has shown that the transfer of the 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 195 

would be now most interesting and valuable, when 
read in the light of those present events by which 
England has command of the canal at Suez, has 
set up the sceptre of empire in the East, and has 
strengthened her holds in the natural and histor- 
ical highway to the Indies. The plan was worthy 
of the mind which had, as the French phrase it, 
" a great deal of the future in it." He had con- 
ceived vast impressions of the countries watered 
by the Mississippi and its tributaries, and this at 
an early day when few, even in thought, had 
crossed the ridges of the Alleghanies. He saw in 
the prospect a marvelous development of the nat- 
ural resources of America; thought these parts 
of the British dominion would ultimately pre- 
dominate over all others, and that, therefore, the 
seat of its government would find its best place 
there. 

Such were the proudly filial and loyal senti- 

seat of the administration of government is not impossible. Some 
of the English press have imputed to the Earl of Beaconsfield, 
who in our own day inflames the imagination of his country with 
magnificent ventures in statesmanship, that his real design, in the 
scheme of the East Indian Empire, is to prepare the way for the 
throne of England to assume a greater and more central sway on 
the spot where the throne of Tamerlane has existed. 

The presence at the American Congress to-day of representatives 
of the Union from California, Nevada, Oregon, Arizona, — States 
more distant from Washington City at the time of their admissions 
than England was — shows that such a universal representation 
as Otis and Franklin contemplated was not impracticable. 



196 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

ments and hopes of the Englishry in the Amer- 
ican colonies at the era when the war with France 
was brought to an end. 

England needed a revenue. Its treasury was 
low — its people overburdened with taxation — 
its trade demanding profitable markets. Then 
came the whispering of evil counsel to tax Amer- 
ica. America had already greatly overtaxed her- 
self to supply means by which to do her part in 
the recent war with France. No matter for that. 
The great traditional enemy of England was sub- 
dued, and the disobedience of one's own children 
need not be tolerated. A scheme to draw a rev- 
enue from the American plantations had been 
mentioned to George II. That monarch knew 
something of the character of those who founded 
the American Colonies. It was of a temper not to 
be trifled with. Its spirit could neither be broken 
nor bent. He declined to engage in the project. 
But another king was now upon the throne. He 
was an Englishman. He had no experience of 
the character of that people which his predecessor 
understood and feared. Besides he believed in 
the right of kings — the implicit obedience of 
subjects. He was a gentleman. His own char- 
acter was naturally firm — in the struggle with 
the colonists it became obstinate. His reign was, 
in the beginning and during an important part of 
it, an arbitrary reign. As arbitrary, and would 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 1 97 

have been as disastrous for the welfare and peace 
of England at home, as that of the Stuarts, had 
not its stubborn current been controlled by the 
will of Chatham, and by the immediate effect of 
the revolt of the colonists. It may be true that 
George III. was led unwarily into the dispute 
with the colonists — it is not to be doubted that 
the revival of the scheme to tax them was again 
brought forward and planned by others, and, per- 
haps, actively by one, a crown-officer, himself a 
native of the Province of Massachusetts Bay^ — 
it is likely that the King and the Ministry were 
from first to last kept in ignorance of the actual 
reasons and causes why the colonists were resist- 
ing, and how general and determined was that 
resistance. However these may be, it is certain 
that the King interested himself throughout very 
deeply, and appears to have considered the con- 
test not simply a political but a personal concern 
of his own.^ 

^ Thomas Hutchinson, Governor at this time of the Province of 
Massachusetts, was of a family distinguished in the colonial an- 
nals of New England ; was born in Boston in 171 1 ; educated at 
Harvard College ; after enjoying several offices of trust under the 
Crown, and retaining the respect of the people, his hypocrisy was 
discovered by his famous secret correspondence sent by Franklin 
to Massachusetts ; he was superseded by General Gage ; went to 
London, and was pensioned by the government ; and there died on 
June 3, 1780. His ambition led him astray, and he died "a pen- 
sioned, broken-hearted exile." 

2 " Sir," said the King to John Adams, on his being presented 



198 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

The Stamp Act came in 1763. Then the re- 
sistance of the people made full proof that they 
were not to be taxed without their consent. Then 
came the repeal of that Act, but with a baneful 
reservation asserting the omnipotence of Parlia- 
ment. As long as that was authoritatively as- 
serted to be a principle of the English Constitu- 
tion, so long the contest could not end. The 
fruit of the season had perished, but the tree re- 
mained. Now were coming forward the race of 
statesmen of whom we have spoken.^ Men whose 
souls were in the cause as one of liberty not less 
than of order and of justice; men who neverthe- 
less perceived that " there is in the support and 
vindication" of "popular rights and principles a 
fascination, constantly tending to the adoption of 
popular prejudices, and to identify the right with 
the power of the people " — men who perceived, 
also, that this was an error, and that at all times 
the voice of the people could not be accepted as 
the voice of God — men whose talents were not 
destructive, as those who " see nothing but abuses, 
and oppressions, and tyrannies to be suppressed," 
who can "build up nothing," and who have no 
power to conceive or to maintain institutions of 

to him as Minister, " I was the last man in my kingdom to consent 
to your independence, and I shall be the last to do anything to in- 
fringe it." 

^ See atite, pp. 48-54. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 1 99 

government.^ They resisted wrong, maintained 
the right, and preserved the heritage of their 
fathers. 

The history of those solemn events which suc- 
ceeded that of which the Stamp Act was only the 
advance measure, it is not to our purpose to re- 
hearse. It is written in pages which adorn the 
English tongue, and which testify to other nations 
that there can be law and order in the midst of 
revolution — that the public body need not be 
torn, prostrated, and left as if dead while the de- 
mon of oppression is driven out — that when Lib- 
erty is on the wing, Crime need not be its asso- 
ciate afoot ; and that a people can preserve their 
liberties without changing ancient foundations or 
the spirit of their institutions. 

There were, it seems to us, two events which, 
more than others of this crisis, had enlightening, 
pervading and strengthening effects upon the 

1 Life of John Adams, by his son, vol. i, p. iii. " Merely neg- 
ative teachers are as the wind ; they destroy but they cannot 
build ; at their best they do but sweep away the unsubstantial fic- 
tions of human fancy or human fraud, but they erect nothing solid 
in the place of the discarded fictions. Your force was purely rel- 
ative to the objects of its animosity, and it perished with them. 
Nay, more : even while they lasted, your force was good for noth- 
ing beside the function of destroying them. Such force is like 
Jehu ; it is trenchant energy so long as vengeance has to be 
wreaked upon the house of Ahab, but it is abject impotence when 
the time comes for settling the polity of Israel on a sure founda- 
tion, and of storing up a legacy of strength and safety for the com- 
ing times." — Canon Liddon's University Sermons. 



200 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

American cause. They will necessarily claim our 
attention because of those effects, and also be- 
cause one of them brought Alexander Hamilton 
first into public life. That one was the call for, 
and the assembling and the acts of, the first Con- 
gress, which met at Philadelphia, on September 
15, 1774. The other was the conflict of hostile 
arms called the battle of Bunker Hill, on June 17, 
1775. From each of these came prosperous un- 
dercurrents, all the more auxiliary because they 
were abstract and moral rather than physical. 
The first, by its intelligence, candor, temper, and 
prudence, excited and retained the admiration of 
Europe, and its proceedings evinced to all the 
civilized world that the motives and object of the 
colonists were right and lawful. The latter re- 
lieved determinately the contest from the dishon- 
oring conditions of rebellion, by instantly creating 
a "state of open and public war," and soon, by 
common concession, achieving for the colonists 
the rights and immunities of belligerents. It is 
necessary that we know the nature and history 
of those two facts so that we can be able more 
clearly to understand and appreciate how it was 
that revolt became respected by intelligent and 
virtuous minds in America and Europe, even in 
England itself; and how it was that apparently 
irreconcilable opinions and passions among the 
colonists fused into one harmonious, resolute atti- 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 201 

tude of resistance. It will not be necessary for 
us to refer again to the political effects of the 
battle of Bunker Hill. We have here somewhat 
anticipated the order of that event for the con- 
venience of a connected comment.^ 

The Boston Port Bill was enacted March 31, 
1774. It was popularly called by that epithet 
as denying to it the authenticity of law. Arbi- 
trary, cruel, and impolitic, it brought the contro- 
versy which had lasted nearly ten years (1765- 
1774) to a very practical issue. America would 
not be the unqualified mart for English fabrics, 
trade and commerce — would not be passively 
obedient to taxation without being directly rep- 
resented in the national councils — would not 
tolerate the annihilating subjection of the parlia- 
mentary omnipotence — would not have her local 
judiciary the subsidiaries of the English treasury, 
and solely dependent on the pleasure of the 
crown for its tenure of office — nor would she 
allow her inhabitants to be denied the right of 
trial by jury, to be taken to England, and there 
tried for offenses charged to have been com- 

^ "The battle of Bunker Hill was attended with the most impor- 
tant effects beyond its immediate results as a military engagement. 
It created at once a state of open, public war. There could now 
be no longer a question of proceeding against individuals, as guilty 
of treason or rebellion. That fearful crisis was past. The appeal 
lay to the sword, and the only question was, whether the spirit and 
the resources of the people would hold out till the object was ac- 
complished." — The Works ofDanu'l Webster, vol. I, p. 691; Mar- 
shall's Life of Washington, vol. i, pp. 44, 45. 



202 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

mitted in the colonies. Therefore it was that 
the ports were to be by form of law closed until 
fruit meet for repentance was offered. The 
Bill bore at once upon the property and the pas- 
sions of the people. Up to this occurrence the 
conflict had been simply that of moral and polit- 
ical reasoning within the arena of legal and con- 
stitutional methods. The nature of the contro- 
versy was radically changing. It was hastening 
to an appeal to the God of Hosts. The minis- 
terial measures were now to be enforced and 
maintained by the military arm. General Gage 
superseding Governor Hutchinson, landed at the 
Long Dock at Boston, on the 17th of May, 1774. 
Hutchinson went to England an emissary of dis- 
cord. Gage turned out to be no improvement 
upon Hutchinson, as a trustworthy transmitter 
of correct information to the ministry. He as- 
sumed command with the delegated authority of 
commander-in-chief, and of the governor of the 
Province of Massachusetts. Never was a govern- 
ment more sadly misled by it agents — never was 
a ministry more erroneously persistent, after it 
might have known surely for itself that there was 
alive a united public opinion more general and 
unexacted, a spirit more determined and organ- 
ized, than that which confronted England when 
the Stamp Act was passed and repealed.^ 

^ In the Historical Society of the city of New York there is a 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 203 

It has been, in our own time, made very clear, 
in the light of the retrospective reflection of his- 
tory, that the ministry did not see nor appreci- 
ate what lay before them in the course which 
they had marked out for reducing the colonists 
to subjection. Lord North had assured the Par- 
liament, on the night of March 5, 1767,^ while 

copy in manuscript of a letter from Edmund Burke on the Quebec 
Bill, written to the Assembly of New York immediately after it 
was passed by Parliament. Mr. Burke was then and had been for 
nearly four years the political agent of the colony, and had opposed 
this bill in all its stages, and the letter contains a history of its 
progress and of his efforts to prevent its passage. Mr. Burke's 
correspondence with the Assembly of New York, during his agency 
(December, 1770, to April, 1775), it is said by Mr. Sparks (Life 
of Gouvertteur Morris, vol. i, p. 51), has never been published. 
This correspondence does not appear in any publication of his writ- 
ings in England, and no part of it is known to exist in this coun- 
try, except the letter which is above mentioned. See as to the 
policy and acts of Governor Thomas Hutchinson, Tudor's Life of 
Otis, pp. 424-433. There was perhaps no single officer of the Brit- 
ish government in America who contributed more to produce the 
separation of the colonies from England than this person. Sparks 
says again, at p. 45, vol. i, of his Life of Goiivenieur Af orris : 
" In the public offices in London I have been favored with the 
perusal of all the original dispatches of General Gage to the gov- 
ernment, while he had command of the British forces in Boston. 
.... General Gage seems to have deceived himself at all points, 
and to have been unaccountably ignorant of the state of public feel- 
ing and opinion in the colonies, and of the progress that was mak- 
ing in the preparations for union and resistance. The ministry 
depended on the information communicated by him, and laid their 
plans accordingly. After knowing the nature and substance of his 
communications, the wonder at the extraordinary measures pursued 
during the first stages of the contest is much diminished." 

I John Dickinson's famous Letters of a Pennsylvania Farmer 



204 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

the act to tax certain articles when imported into 
the colonies was debated, that the colonists were 
yielding. That assurance was what persuaded 
the large majority by which the act was passed. 
The King, in his earliest note to Lord North, 
when he became prime minister, wrote that a 
little spirit would do everything, and " it was all 
that was needed to restore order to his service." 
Franklin heard from the gallery of the House of 
Commons the debate on that occasion, and what 
Lord North uttered. But he still adhered to the 
ways of conciliation, and discouraged all tenden- 
cies that might lessen the unity and strength of 
the British Empire in America. 

Before the year 1770 it was settled that the 
opinions and interests of the colonists should be 
more intelligently and respectably represented in 
England. Important persons of the colonies felt 
confident that the policy which the Ministry was 
putting into operation could proceed from nothing 
but the absence of proper information. It was 
supposed that the Ministry would not recklessly 
venture upon a dangerous display of absolute 
power. Thus it was taken to be commendable 
and necessary, to the end that peace might be 
preserved and that the Ministry might be advised 
to retire from their undue proceedings, that evi- 
dence of this unity of opinion, general spirit of 

were published at the close of the year 1767, to prove that the 
minister was mistaken in this opinion. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 205 

resistance, and disposition for reconciliation should 
be conspicuously and convincingly given to Eng- 
land and to the civilized world. And thus it was, 
that, in the year 1770, Franklin, then in England, 
was appointed the accredited agent of the Provin- 
cial Assembly of Massachusetts. He had been 
appointed on the 7th of the preceding December 
to a similar office by the State of New Jersey. 
The great philosophic orator and statesman, Ed- 
mund Burke, was appointed its agent by the Prov- 
ince of New York. There were others associ- 
ated with them in a common mission to furnish 
accurate information to the government and peo- 
ple of England concerning the claims and concili- 
atory disposition of the colonists.^ James Otis 
had again, a short time before, spoken with his 
usual candor the prevalent opinion. In a letter 
written by him to Mr. Arthur Jones, November 
26, 1768, he said : — 

" I am and have been long concerned more for Great Brit- 
ain than for the colonies. You may ruin yourselves, but you 
cannot in the end ruin the colonies. Our fathers were a good 
people, we have been a free people, and if you will not let 
us remain so any longer, we shall be a great people ; and the 
present measures can have no tendency but to hasten, with 
great rapidity, events which every good and honest man 
would wish delayed for ages ; if possible, prevented forever," ^ 

1 The agents were Paul Wentworth, Dr. Benjamin Franklin, 
William Bollan, Dr. Arthur Lee, Thomas Life, Edmund Burke, and 
Charles Garth. — Jourtial of the Proceedings of the Congress of 
1774, p. 118. 

2 Tudor's Life of Otis, p. 35. 



206 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

Franklin, Burke, and the other representatives 
were instructed to persevere so as to avoid the 
resort to armed resistance, and its inevitable se- 
quence, separation from the Crown, f The fre- 
quently repeated resolves of the colony assem- 
blies showed, in the mean time, that they knew 
their rights, and would not lose sight of them. 
There were, of course, accompanying the pro- 
gression of affairs, the customary coteries of warm 
and inconveniently active spirits, the usual hon- 
est blockhead, the unappeasable patriot ; and 
these furnished instances from which the cen- 
sures of those opposed seemed to be sustainable. 
The colonial cause was not exempt from com- 
mon frailty. But the authentic public movements 
were then, and to the last, firmly held in hand 
by those men who were above the vulgar rapture 
and license of revolt. Those men did not yield 
to the passion of the moment. They felt as 
others felt, but let discretion tutor indignation. 
Indeed, they yet fondly clung to the hope that 
when the King and Ministry had their under- 
standing: convinced that it w^as not a few malcon- 
tents, but really the elements of a new nation, 
that were placed in an attitude not sought by 
the colonists, reasonable and acceptable methods 
of conciliation with America would be adopted. 
The letters written by Governor Hutchinson and 
others had been transmitted by Franklin to Mas- 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 207 

sachusetts, and had been made public by order 
of the General Court. Those had told the story 
how the official representatives of the Crown in 
America were making a profligate use of their 
trust to aid their own individual schemes of am- 
bition. But should King and Ministry continue 
heedless, then the ultimate appeal remained to 
the People of England. 

Notwithstanding, therefore, that Burke had, in 
his place in Parliament, finally to tell the Com- 
mons that "invention was exhausted, reason was 
fatigued, experience had given judgment, but ob- 
stinacy was not yet conquered,''^ — notwithstand- 
ing that of the innumerable petitions and agents 
sent to the government few were received and 
none deigned to be answered, — notwithstanding 
that Franklin, in London, on his mission of peace 
and petition for justice, had been insulted by Wed- 
derburn in the face of the British Ministry,^ — 
notwithstanding that the Boston Port Bill was 
put in operation and a military power present 
there to uphold and enforce its action, — notwith- 
standing that the Ministry manifested its deter- 
mination so unmistakably to prevail at all points 

1 Exordium to his speech on American Taxation, delivered April 
19, 1774. 

2 January 29, 1774. The famous hearing at " The Cockpit" on 
the Governor Hutchinson petition will be found best related in the 
second volume, page 189, of The Life of Benja/niti Franklin, ed- 
ited by the Hon. John Bigelow, late our Minister to France. 



2o8 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

and at all hazards — yet one more and most com- 
prehensive effort would now be made, and by at 
least a united America, to avert the impending 
common sacrifice. 

As the English Ministry and their adherents 
continued to declare the belief that the opposition 
to their measures arose mainly from ambitious, 
self-seeking, and turbulent political adventurers, 
who were abusing the public weal and peace to 
their own disloyal ends, so they professed also to 
believe that the numerous expressions of loyalty 
to the King and devotion to the unity and pros- 
perity of the British Empire in America were not 
sincere. Though those who uttered the expres- 
sions were the most reputable in their several com- 
munities, yet it was charged that they were in- 
tended to mislead and betray ; and it was assev- 
erated that an earnest and unequivocal exhibition 
of menacing power by the government would soon 
disclose to the world that such was really the fact. 
This supercilious, even if misconceived, spirit had 
been already, and was to be again and again, met 
with defiance and resistance. It was not the Bos- 
ton Tea-Party alone that suited the action to its 
word, the word to its action. Goethe^ classed 
the action among the prodigious events which 
stamped themselves most deeply on the mind of 

^ Goethe's Brief e. III., 1420, 142 1, quoted in Bancroft's History 
of the United States. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 209 

his childhood. New York,^ Philadelphia, Balti- 
more, Charleston, showed that Massachusetts was 
not to be alone in its practical way of solving the 
problem. It was due nevertheless to the real sin- 
cerity of American desire for conciliation — it was 
due to Chatham, who had publicly " rejoiced " in 
the House of Lords "that the colonies resisted" — 
it was due to the Duke of Richmond, Camden, 
Fox, and other illustrious Englishmen, who openly 
sustained the resistance as just and constitutional, 
and who acknowledged and declared that the col- 
onists were acting under the sanction and in sup- 
port of the principles of English liberty — it was 
due to a decent respect for the good opinion of 
other nations, that all America should at length 
assemble in one council, and specifically declare 
the general grievances; make manifest that the 
resistance was not the evil work of a few, but 
came from the widespread conviction of wrong 
felt by a whole country ; claim that every British 
subject born on the continent of America, or in 

' April 18, 1774, The Nancy, tea-ship, arrived near New York, 
A sloop with a body of men were sent to watch the vessel at Sandy 
Hook. Four days after, another vessel came in with a small cargo 
of tea ; a number of citizens at eight p. M. took the cargo and threw 
it into the sea. Persons of good reputation superintended the affair. 
Two hours, and all had quietly gone to their homes ; but the next 
day the bells were rung and a large meeting was held at the lib- 
erty-pole. — Dunlap's History of New Vork, vol. i, pp. 452, 453. 
As to the general policy of this course see Works of John Adams, 
vol. 2, pp. 323-325. 

14 



2IO LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

any other part of the British dominions, is, by the 
law of God and nature, by the common law, and 
by act of Parliament, entitled to all the natural, 
essential, inherent and inseparable rights of fel- 
low-subjects in Great Britain ; and, with dignified 
firmness and conciliatory temper, by a grand re- 
monstrance and petition, ask the King and Par- 
liament, aye, the People of England, to remove, 
and cease forever to impose, those and like bur- 
dens unknown to the law. 

This thought was not peculiar to any one col- 
ony. It seems to have been the somewhat gen- 
eral wish.^ Franklin, now become the political 
agent of Pennsylvania and Georgia in addition to 
his former agencies, had the year before (July 7, 
1773) sent an official letter to Massachusetts, ad- 
vising that a general congress of all the colonies 
assemble. He had said : — 

"As the strength of an empire depends not only on the 
union of its parts, but on their readiness for united exertion 
of their common force ; and as the discussion of rights may 
seem unreasonable in the commencement of actual war, and 
the delay it might occasion be prejudicial to the common wel- 
fare ; as . , . . want of concert would defeat the expectation 
of general redress, that might otherwise be justly formed ; 
perhaps it would be best and fairest for the colonies, in a 
general congress now in peace to be assembled, or by means 
of the correspondence lately proposed, after a full and solemn 
assertion and declaration of their rights, to engage firmly with 

' Life of Gouverneur Morris, by Sparks, vol. i, p. 23, note, 
and Sparks' Life of Washington, vol. 2, p. 326. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 211 

each other, that they will never grant aids to the Crown in any- 
general war, till those rights are recognized by the King and 
both houses of Parliament ; communicating at the same time 
to the Crown this their resolution. Such a step, I imagine, 
will bring the dispute to a crisis." ^ 

Heretofore, the interchange of opinions and 
sympathy had been conducted by committees of 
correspondence. It was thought well that the chief 
men should gather and reason together. The city 
of New York anticipated all other places and was 
in act the first to propose " a general congress." ^ 
The twelve colonies, which were spread over the 
vast space from Nova Scotia to Georgia, had al- 
ready taken alarm and united in appointing dele- 
gates, " with authority and direction to meet and 
consult together for the common welfare." Such 
a congress, it was agreed by those colonies, should 
meet at Philadelphia on Monday, the 5th of Sep- 
tember, 1774. 

The election in the city of New York for del- 
egates to that congress produced the first and the 
last struggle there between the " Sons of Liberty " 

^ Sparks' Life of Franklin, vol. i, p. 350. 

2 Bancroft's History of the United States, vol. 7, pp. 40, 76, 77. 
Mr. George Ticknor Curtis, in his excellent History of the Consti- 
tution, on page 11, however, says, that "the first actual step to- 
wards this measure was taken in Virginia." By which is, undoubt- 
edly, meant the first step by a legislative body. The first move- 
ment in that direction by the people and in order of time came, as 
stated in the text, from New York city. And see Rives' Life of 
Madison, vol. i, pp. 56-60, for the proceedings in the Virginia As- 
sembly. 



212 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

and those who, though truly devoted as any others 
to the cause, were temperate and wished to avoid 
over-zeal. While all seemed willing to support 
Massachusetts in the resistance which it was then 
making, few in New York were disposed to in- 
cur or encourage armed rebellion. New York was 
a cosmopolitan city, and did not, as uniformly as 
Boston, march all one way. Now it was Isaac 
Sears, a man unselfish, patriotic, zealous and in- 
discreet, that sent the letter from the New York 
committee of vigilance to Boston on receiving in- 
telligence of the passage of the Boston Port Bill. 
He promised measures of sympathy and support 
from the people of New York, which excited no 
small anxiety in those who wished well and were 
more capable of doing good. Prudent men became 
wary and others almost hostile ; and many of great 
intellectual and moral weight were changed to, or 
were confirmed in, opinions not favorable to the 
methods of redress followed in Massachusetts. 
Among those in New York who were most pro- 
nounced in opposition were Gouverneur Morris 
and Samuel Seabury, — the latter name to be- 
come known and venerated more than once in the 
American church and honored in both hemi- 
spheres. Each of these names is charactered in 
events, second to none other in the history of the 
country in importance and inherent power of un- 
ceasing development. Both of these eminent per- 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 213 

sons will require our attention at future stages. 
But it may be as well to say here that their men- 
tal and moral traits and principles were very dif- 
ferent. Neither is to be classed with the popular 
favorites. Yet each was successful. Popularity 
is not fame, — popularity is not power. Each 
reached, in the direct path of duty and honor, and 
fully accomplished, that which might well have 
been the absorbing object of a life's ambition. In 
the individuality of Seabury the Bishopric of the 
Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States 
of America was begun, and that long and bitter 
controversy ended ; ^ and it was Gouverneur Mor- 
ris who, having potently aided in the creation 
and formation of the Constitution of the United 
States of America, arranged, by special request, 
the clauses and gave the final literary finish to its 
provisions, and that in a sense which justified him 
in claiming to be its "author."^ Seabury formed 
his opinions slowly, and upon what seemed to his 
reason and conscience immutable principles; he 
remained, until peace was declared and the in- 

1 Tudor's Life of Otis, pp. 136-160 ; Sedgwick's Life of Wil- 
liam Livingston., pp. 127-144; Bishop White's Memoir of the 
Prat. Epis. Church in the United States ; and The Works of 
George Berkeley, D. Z>.,- vol. 3, p. 218 (Oxford edition of 185 1, by 
Fraser). The first See of the Church of England established in 
any of the British Colonies was that of Nova Scotia, in 1787, three 
years after Bishop Seabury's consecration. 

2 Sparks' Life of Gouverneur Morris, vol. 1, pp. 283-286, and 
vol. 3, p. 323. 



214 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

dependence of America acknowledged, faithful to 
the Crown ; then his love of native land exempli- 
fied itself in a no less faithful and energetic devo- 
tion to her spiritual welfare. Morris modified the 
original disposition of his mind with the chang- 
ing political conditions of the country, and served 
it ever after faithfully through a long life of vari- 
ous and important duty. 

Yet there was one, among many others, who 
came from the better and moderate ranks of so- 
ciety prominently into public life at this crisis. 
Men see in his advent at this moment one of 
those desired incidents which reverent minds are 
accustomed to ascribe to a special Providence. 
It was the son-in-law of William Livingston, the 
illustrious John Jay. Pie was in the twenty-ninth 
year of his age. Pure, courageous, prudent, pa- 
tient, direct and forcible in dealing with all ques- 
tions, he became the acknowledged leader, at and 
for this period, of the sober and safe thought of 
the community. He belonged to that powerful 
order of men who, at this critical pass in public 
affairs, gave character to the new nation, and 
made it to be of good repute and high esteem 
abroad in foreign lands. Always boldly right, he 
left extremes at either hand. We shall have many 
occasions to recur to his public history and per- 
sonal individuality. 

There was then in active and efficient exist- 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 215 

ence in the city of New York another body of 
citizens called the Committee of Correspondence. 
Its purpose was to evince the reasonable, matured 
opinion of their own fellow-citizens ; to bring 
into united counsel with them the dwellers in the 
other counties of the colony, and to promote 
general intelligent action and orderly conduct. 
This committee was made up of fifty-one mem- 
bers, and they, when the news came that the Bill 
closing the port of Boston was to be enforced, 
were transformed. May 16, 1774, into a commit- 
tee for the public defense. But it was thought 
by the more zealous, some being members of the 
committee, that its directory was not proceeding 
fast enough nor far enough to answer the ur- 
gent needs of the cause. Many, like zealously- 
minded, saw that in the original formation of this 
committee prominent persons of their way of 
thinking were purposely left out. It was evi- 
dently the intention that the leaders of the popu- 
lar party should not be allowed to have control.^ 
Still, July 4, following, the committee, yielding to 
the pressure of a popular sentiment, agreed to 
resolve that five persons be named by the com- 
mittee to meet at general congress, at a time and 
place which should be selected by the colonies ; 
and that the freeholders and freemen of the city 

^ Life and Times of Gen. fohn Lamb, p. 91 ; Bancroft's History 
of the United States, vol. 7, pp. 40, 41, 78 ; Life of Van Schaack, 
pp. 16, 17. 



2l6 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

of New York be summoned to ratify or disap- 
prove of the nominations. On behalf of the ad- 
vocates of strong and decisive measures, Sears 
moved that Alexander M'Dougall, James Duane, 
Isaac Low, Philip Livingston, and John Morine 
Scott be the nominees. Sears' scheme was in 
part defeated; and John Jay, James Duane, Philip 
Livingston, John Alsop, and Isaac Low were 
nominated, and a meeting of the citizens called 
to act upon the nominations. 

Sears and M'Dougall, and their adherents, re- 
garded this defeat as the triumph of the minis- 
terial side ; that side so esteemed it and impru- 
dently displayed their joy ; ^ but the committee it- 

1 Rivington, the publisher, wrote an unwise letter to a friend in 
Boston ; this extract of which was sent from there to John Lamb : 
" The power over our crowd is no longer in the hands of Sears, 
Lamb, and such unimportant persons, who have for six years 
past been the demagogues of a very turbulent faction in this city ; 
but their power and mischievous capacity expired instantly upon 
the election of the Committee of Fifty-one, in which there is a 
majority of inflexible, honest, loyal, and prudent citizens." — Life 
of Gen. John Latnb, p. 91. Lieutenant-governor Colden had writ- 
ten to the Earl of Dartmouth, on June i, 1774, to a like effect: 
" They dissolved the former committee, and appointed a new one 
of fifty-one persons; in which care was taken tahave a number of 
the most prudent and considerate people of the place. Some of 
them have not before joined the public proceedings of the opposi- 
tion, and were induced to appear in what they are sensible is an 
illegal character from a consideration that, if they did not, the busi- 
ness would be left in the same rash hands as before." — Force's 
American Archives (4th series), vol. i, p. 372. It would have 
been better for the success of the ministerial designs had " the 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 217 

self kept steadily on, regardless of such incidents, 
preserving power and gathering strength. To 
anticipate that meeting, called for the 7th, and to 
influence its action upon the nominations there 
to be presented, those who felt they were denied 
the right, as leaders, to be consulted determined 
upon an independent demonstration. They, the 
same day, called a meeting of citizens for Wednes- 
day, the 6th of July, "in the fields."^ Printed an- 
nouncements were posted, and hand-bills circu- 
lated plentifully throughout the town.^ A great 
concourse (gathered. The numerous attendance 
of mechanics showed the popular preference. 

Alexander M'Dougall had been arrested, in 
December, 1 769, and committed to prison, charged 
with the authorship of "a seditious libel." The 
effect of the proceeding was unfortunate for the 
government. He was taken on a bench-warrant 
before the Chief Justice. " You have brought 
yourself into a pretty scrape," said his lordship. 
"That," answered M'Dougall, "must be judged 
of by my peers." " There is full proof you are 
the author of an infamous and seditious libel." 

business" been "left in the same rash hands." Only one of the 
delegates (Mr. Alsop) chosen to the Congress from New York 
fell away from the cause, even when the appeal to arms was at last 
made. 

^ Now the Park. 

2 Some of these hand-bills are preserved in the collections of the 
New York Historical Society. 



2l8 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

" This," replied M'Dougall, " must also be tried 
by my peers." It was the principle, again, of 
the Zenger case.^ The government had unwit- 
tingly made a martyr and a popular hero, and no 
vulgar hero either. Popular demonstrations were 
numerous and significant. At a time when aris- 
tocratic exclusiveness was most strict, the prison 
of M'Dougall, a man of the people, was thronged 
by admirers from the leading social ranks, and 
by ladies of the first distinction in the commu- 
nity ; and from that prison he poured forth to a 
sympathizing people appeals filled with pertinent 
thoughts clothed in acceptable language. The 
prosecution was declared similar, in its violation 
of the right of free speech, to that of John Wilkes 
for publishing the 45th number of the " North 
Briton ; " but M'Dougall, unlike Wilkes, was pure, 
and had the respect of all. He had been released 
on bail, and so his imprisonment had ended; ^ 
but not his popularity nor influence. The peo- 
ple regarded him a patriot, and remembered that 
he had suffered in the cause of civil liberty. 

A general meeting of citizens was held, and 
M'Dougall was chosen to preside. Dissatisfac- 
tion at the seemingly temporizing policy of the 
Committee of Fifty-one prevailed among those 

1 Howell's State Trials^ vol. 17, p. 675. 

2 Life of Hafuilton, by his son, vol. I, pp. 18, 19; and Life of 
fohn Lamb, pp. 61-63. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 219 

who attended. No verbal report of the proceed- 
ings of the meeting, none beyond the resolves, 
was made at the time. But tradition has vividly- 
brought down to us the contemporary fame of 
one address. It was the last, and the briefest. 
Its effect upon the subject and upon the fame of 
the speaker reminds us of that made by Somers 
in the case of the Seven Bishops, which, though 
coming last, was preferred to those that went be- 
fore.^ The meeting had drawn to its close. 
Hamilton was among the auditors. It would be 
unreasonable to suppose that Hercules Mulligan 
was not there also; perhaps with him. Hamil- 
ton was affiliating with the " Sons of Liberty." ^ 
His relations with William Livingston, John Ma- 
son, John Rodgers, and particularly with his host, 
Hercules Mulligan, put him in frequent inter- 
course with those of that inclining. King's Col- 
lege stood almost within the sound of the voices 

^ " Somers rose last. He spoke little more than five minutes, 
but every word was full of weighty matter ; and when he sate down 
his reputation as an orator, and a constitutional lawyer was estab- 
lished." — Macaulay's History of England, vol. 2, p. 270. 

2 A history of this organization is contained in the Life of Gen. 
fohn Lamb, pp. 2-4, 8, 99 ; and there Hamilton is spoken of, with 
Lamb, Sears, Willett, and M'Dougall, as among its active mem- 
bers. See, also, Dunlap's History of New York, vol. i, p. 452. 
The association originated in 1765, soon after the passage of the 
Stamp Act, and was extended throughout the colonies. New York 
was its central post. It ceased, without any formal disbandment, 
in 1774, when the famous Committee of Fifty-one superseded all 
other like bodies. 



220 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

of those who spoke at the meeting. The young 
collegians were debating among themselves the 
merits of the issues between America and Great 
Britain, and none more earnestly and anxiously 
than they. Dr. Myles Cooper, a graduate of Ox- 
ford, the president of the college, was then, and 
remained to the end, friendly to the party of the 
Crown. Hamilton had, until the preceding spring, 
strongly tended the same way. He himself re- 
lates that he had previously formed and enter- 
tained " strong prejudices on the ministerial 
side, until he became convinced by the superior 
force of the arguments in favor of the colonial 
claims."^ The habit of his mind, his chief so- 
cial connections in New York, the ruling tem- 
per of polite society there at that period, and his 
reverence for the principles of the English consti- 
tution, all conjoined to produce such a tendency. 
He had the propitious advantages of an educated 
and refined society, and of sincere and powerful 
friends. What he heard and saw had led him 
to study the history and principles of the whole 
controversy. He had done it with his habitual 
research and reflection. He speedily became 
master of its fact and its philosophy, as well as 
of a clear and authentic knowledge of the reso- 
lutions and acts of the British Parliament relat- 
ing to America subsequent to the peace of 1763, 

1 Life of Hatnilton, by his son, vol. i, p. 25. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 22 1 

and of the series of devices and proceedings of 
the British ministry to enforce them. His recent 
inquiries among the people had convinced him of 
the fixed determination by which those acts were 
to be met on the part of the people of all the 
colonies. He became convinced that passive obe- 
dience was not an English doctrine, and that the 
colonists were none other than perfect British 
subjects, and, as such, entitled to the rights and 
immunities of their fellow subjects in England. 
Therefore was Hamilton at that meeting in the 
open fields and in ardent sympathy with its gen- 
eral intent. He was overheard saying that they 
who spoke had not entirely unfolded the subject. 
He was a stranger, a young collegian, known to 
a few there as the studious, slight figure who 
walked, and mused, and muttered to himself 
among the trees in Batteau Street. Under an 
impulse of the occasion he ascended the hust- 
ings. With calm, earnest words he held the at- 
tention of the people. The substance of what 
he said is not preserved ; but it was remembered 
by men who lived within our day that the people 
marvelled at the eloquence and mature sense of 
that which the unknown youth said. His speech 
was marked by the qualities of his later time, 
— deliberateness, clearness, warmth, and reason. 
From thence Hamilton, then seventeen years old, 



22 2 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

was a public and notable man. The work of his 
life was upon him.^ 

The resolves adopted by the meeting were 
bold and explicit. The Boston Port Bill was de- 
nounced ; the people of Boston were acknowl- 
edged as suffering in a cause involving the liber- 
ties of America ; non-importation and non-export- 
ation were insisted upon as the surest available 
means by which American interests could be 
guarded while the English mandate kept closed 
the port of Boston ; and it was directed that the 
delegates to the proposed congress be instructed 
to vote for a suspension of all importations from 
Great Britain until the tyranny be past.^ 

The Committee of Fifty-one met, in pursuance 
of its previous announcement, on the 7th. The 

^ Some have recently professed incredulity to the writer as to 
this speech having been made, because the kind of tried men who 
had the meeting in charge would not have hazarded that an un- 
known person, and he so young, should address it. But the audi- 
ence were mainly mechanics, and a collegian among them could 
not be an unwelcome auxiliary. Again, it is said, no mention of 
the speech is to be found in the newspapers of that day, — neither 
is there of any other of the speakers; nothing but the resolves. 
— Holt's New York Journal, of Thursday, July 7, 1774, and The 
New York Gazette, July 11, 1774, in the Society Library of the city 
of New York. The story was current during the lifetime of many 
who were there, was never contradicted by any of them, and has 
been related by some of Hamilton's contemporaries, including his 
fellow-collegian and life-long friend. Colonel Nicholas Fish, with a 
particularity belonging to an actual witness of the scene. 

2 These resolves are printed in full in Force's American Archives 
(4th series), vol. i, p. 312, and in the two newspapers above cited. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 223 

meeting " in the fields " was condemned and its 
proceedings disapproved by an official action of 
the committee, at which thirty members were 
present. Twenty-one voted in favor of the con- 
demnatory resolves, and nine dissented. Those 
nine at once withdrew from the committee, and 
the following day, three others, who were not at 
that sitting, withdrew also. The proceedings of 
the meeting " in the fields " had been communi- 
cated to Boston by M'Dougall and others. So 
this committee, now lessened in number, called 
upon the people to assemble at the Coffee House 
on the 19th. The growing power of the popular 
element was apparent, and equally the mischief 
likely to be started by its ill-regulated fervor. 
The citizens assembled at the Coffee House ; the 
committee proposed resolutions and candidates 
for the delegation to the congress. The citizens 
rejected two of the candidates, and denounced the 
resolutions as " destitute of vigor, sense, and integ- 
rity." The committee had met its first defeat. 
Yet its purpose and spirit were not impaired. 
The citizens then determined to make an appeal 
themselves to the People, and they appointed a 
special committee to draft resolves more expres- 
sive of feelings and opinions becoming the true 
state of the colonial cause, and to have the Peo- 
ple appoint the delegates. Jay, who had been 
very remiss in his attendance until the rupture in 



2 24 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

the committee, was present now, and was named 
a member of that special committee ; but the day- 
after this he decHned to act,^ because it was ap- 
pointed without previous notice to the People, 
and was no part of the specified business for 
which the meeting of the 19th had been called. 
He thought his appointment not regular; that it, 
besides, cast censure upon the committee of cor- 
respondence, and led to breaking the ranks at a 
time when peace, unity, and concord were needed 
first of all. Therein we have an instance of the 
application of a principle which Jay ever enforced, 
and of his care that regular organization should 
be sustained and respected. Jay advised in his 
public career the need and eflficacy, whenever a 
new delegation of authority was requested, of 
always going again to the People as the true 
source of power. We are careful to mark its 
first assertion by him ; for when it came, in the 
course of events, to inaugurate a National Con- 
stitution he would have that founded solely upon 
the will of the People; while Hamilton advocated 
an expedient, by which the People, admitted to be 
the source of original authority, should be invoked, 
and yet by which the prescribed method of the 
articles of the confederation would be pursued. 
This difference of degree in the means of reaching 
a common end signifies two schools in politics. 

1 Life of John fay, by his son, vol. i, pp. 26, 27. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 225 

^ The committee were then regularly appointed. 
The rejected resolutions were amended. Jay be- 
lieved that England might still be reconciled to 
a lawful course, and the dispute adjusted. The 
resolutions now declared that all acts of the Brit- 
ish Parliament imposing taxes on the colonies 
were unjust and unconstitutional ; that the Bos- 
ton Port Act was arbitrary in its principles, op- 
pressive in its exactions, subversive of British 
liberty ; and that the destruction of the tea was 
not the motive for bringing such distress on the 
people of Boston by an act of Parliament, but 
was, in truth, the asseveration and enforcement of 
the right of taxation over the colonies. They 
further declared that nothing less than dire ne- 
cessity could justify the colonists' uniting, or com- 
pel them to engage, in any measure which might 
materially injure their brethren, the manufacturers, 
traders, and merchants in Great Britain ; but that 
the preservation of their inestimable rights and 
liberties, as enjoyed and handed down to them by 
their ancestors, ought to supersede all other con- 
siderations ; and hence, they did not doubt that 
the People of England would, on mature delibera- 
tion, not only applaud their motive, but cooperate 
with them in all constitutional measures to ob- 
tain the redress of their grievances. This put 
the case candidly and strongly. These senti- 
ments met with approval almost universal. The 



2 26 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

policy of non-importation, was gaining ground 
The election for delegates to the Continental 
Congress proceeded : and John Jay, Philip Liv- 
ingston, Isaac Low, and John Alsop were unani- 
mously elected, on July 28, 1774.^ Even Isaac 
Sears was pleased. But the tide of affairs in 
New York did not move swiftly nor high enough 
for him, and he betook himself soon after to the 
adjoining colony of Connecticut, where he joined 
other spirits similarly disposed. His old associ- 
ates fell generally into the more orderly way 
which now took the lead and control ; and so 
passed away the " Sons of Liberty," in the city of 
New York. 

It has been said, and repeated, that Hamilton 
made a visit to Boston early in the spring of 
1774.^ The story does not appear to us probable. 
It perhaps owes its origin to his having been 
there in October, 1772, when on his way from St. 
Croix to New York. He was this spring deeply 
engaged in collegiate duties. We know how 
faithful he was to duty, and how rigorously he im- 

^ Life of John Jay, by his son, vol. i, pp. 27-29 : and Governor 
Golden, writing a few days after the election to the Earl of Dart- 
mouth, said that if the "government had interfered, the most vio- 
lent men would have gained great advantage, and would have pre- 
vented the acquiescence in the nomination of moderate men, which 
has now taken place, to meet at the General Congress of deputies 
from all the colonies, proposed to be held at Philadelphia, next 
month." — Americaji Archives, vol. i, p. 669. 

^ Life of Hamilton, by his son, vol. i, p. 25. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 227 

pressed its obligations in the remarkable letter to 
Edward Stevens.^ No object appears for which 
such a visit was required. But the biographical 
value of the incident should be, that it would have 
brought him to the centralized spot, where the 
questions of colonial rights and of resistance to 
the English Ministry were most elaborately and 
contentiously debated. It was not requisite to be 
in Boston to be within Boston influence. That 
had spread over the whole country. From the 
time of the argument of Otis in the matter of 
the Writs of Assistance;^ from that, when he vin- 
dicated the conduct of the House of Representa- 
tives of the Massachusetts Bay ; ^ from that, when 
he asserted and proved the rights of the colo- 
nies;* from that, when he advised the Province of 

1 Ajtte, p. 159. 

^ February, 1761. The argument will be found in Minot's His- 
tory of Massachusetts Bay, vol. 2, pp. 91-106 ; in Otis'' Life, by 
Tudor, pp. 62-90 ; and in Quincy's Reports, p. 471. 

3 1762. "How many volumes," says John Adams, "are concen- 
trated in this little fugitive pamphlet Look at the Declara- 
tions of Rights and Wrongs, issued by Congress, in 1774. Look 
into the Declaration of Independence in 1776. Look into the writ- 
ings of Dr. Price, Dr. Priestley What can you find that is 

not to be found in solid substance in this vindication ? " The title, 
of this pamphlet is A Vindication of the Coitdiict of the House of 
Representatives of the Province of the Massachusetts Bay : more 
particularly in the last session of the General Assembly, printed, 
Boston, 1762. 

* The Rights of the British Colonies Asserted and Proved, by 
James Otis. London, reprinted for G. Almon, 1764. It was men- 



2 28 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

Massachusetts to meet in New York other com- 
mittees from the other colonial assemblies " to con- 
sult together" and " consider of a united repre- 
sentation to implore relief," and helped to form 
the compact moral force which nullified and 
led to the repeal of the Stamp Act ; ^ from that, 
when John Adams, with intrepidity and success, 
controverted the arguments by which Governor 
Hutchinson proclaimed the omnipotence of Par- 
liament ; ^ from that, when he, with like courage, 
detailed and explained the doctrine and history 
of the essentiality of an independent judiciary, 
vindicated its worth, and induced its general adop- 
tion into the organic laws of his own and other 

tioned in the debates in Parliament, and there commented upon by 
Lords Mansfield and Littleton, in February, 1766. 

1 1765. " In this measure, it is impossible not to perceive the 
seminal principle of the subsequent union of the North American 
British colonies ; nor can it be doubted that the credit of having 
originated it is exclusively due to James Otis." — Charles Francis 
Adams, in his careful, well-worded, and judicious Life of John 
Ada?ns, his grandfather, vol. i, pp. 94-96; Dunlap's History of 
New York, vol. i, pp. 415, 423, 424. 

2 This was, perhaps, the most remarkable discussion which pre- 
ceded the Revolution. Elbridge Gerry, afterwards vice-president of 
the United States of America, and who had been a fellow-member 
with Adams of the same General Court and in the secrets of the 
popular party, in a letter of reminiscences, ascribes its authorship 
to John Adams, as a fact well known to him. Indeed, the series 
of papers reported by the committee of that assembly are among 
the wisest and most masterly state-papers of the time of the 
American Revolution. There can be no preparatory study more 
useful for a public man than the whole of those productions of 
which these are a part. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 229 

states ; ^ — Boston was present in potential spirit 
throughout the land. This was the influence on 
which young Hamilton fed. Yet that influence 
must wait for its plenitude of power in the other 
colonies. That which is not seen is the living en- 
ergy ; that which is seen, as the flower and glory 
of perfected nature, has fulfilled its end. 

People in New York looked askant as Mas- 
sachusetts views were mentioned. When John 
Adams, then in his thirty-ninth year, arrived in 
New York city, on August 20, 1774, with his fel- 
low-delegates,^ on their way to the Congress to be 
held at Philadelphia, he felt that he entered a 
political atmosphere some degrees less warm than 
he had become accustomed to. Massachusetts 
had sent the delegates forth with great manifes- 
tations of approval, and Connecticut had borne 
them through its length with delighted accept- 
ance. New York, indeed, had put her thinking- 
cap on. She meant to be slow in hastening an 
irrevocable crisis. " Phil. Livingston," one of the 
delegates from New York, "a great, rough, rapid 

^ The Life and Works of John Adams, vol. 2, pp. 328-332, and 
vol. 3, p. 187. This discussion afterwards enlightened the conven- 
tion of Massachusetts, in 1779, and its idea was embodied in the 
Constitution then formed for that Commonwealth. The State of 
New York had, before that, put a provision to the like effect in its 
Constitution of 1777; and in 1787, it found its appropriate place 
in the National Constitution. 

2 Samuel Adams, James Bowdoin, Thomas Cushing, and Robert 
Treat Paine. 



230 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

mortal, .... seems to dread New England, the 
levelling spirit, etc. Hints were thrown out of 
the Goths and Vandals. Mention was made of 
hanging the Quakers, etc.;" and M'Dougall gave 
John Adams " a caution, to avoid every expression 
which looked like an allusion to the last appeal; " 
and he said there was a party which is " intimi- 
dated lest the levelling spirit of the New Eng- 
land colonists should propagate itself into New 
York." ^ The " opulent hospitality " with which 
John Adams was treated while in New York did 
not soften his anger at the want of confidence 
which observably existed.^ Time was soon to 
bring him its compensation. " I suppose we must 
go to Philadelphia," he had said to his colleague 
Samuel Adams, " and enter into non-importation, 
non-consumption, and non-exportation agreements. 
But they will be of no avail. We shall have to 
resist by force." ^ He had hailed, nevertheless, 
the prospect which lay before his imagination and 
hope. He welcomed the coming Congress, and 
at moments and in ways that must allow his 
sincerity to be above doubt. He wrote in his 
diary, on June 20, 1774 : — 

" There is a new and grand scene open before me : a Con- 
gress. This will be an assembly of the wisest men upon the 
continent who are American in principle, that is, against the 

1 Life and Works of John Adams, vol. 2, pp. 164-185, 350, 351. 

2 Ibid., p. 353. 

^ Life of John Adams, by his son, vol. i, p. 209. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 23 1 

taxation of Americans by authority of Parliament. T feel 
myself unequal to this business. A more extensive knowl- 
edge of the realm, the colonies, and of commerce, as well as 
of law and policy is necessary, than I am master of. What 
can be done ? Deliberations alone will not do. The ideas 
of the people are as various as their faces. One thinks, no 
more petitions — former having been neglected and despised ; 
some are for resolves, spirited resolves ; and some are for 
bolder counsels." — "I wander alone and ponder. I muse, 
I mope, I ruminate. I am often in reveries and brown studies. 
The objects before me are too grand and multifarious for my 
comprehension."^ 

The Congress was " the step " to bring " the 
dispute to a crisis." ^ 

In such disposition all of the Massachusetts 
delegation departed from New York. On Thurs- 
day, August 25, the day before his departure, 
John Adams visited the King's College. He was 
shown "the library, the books and curiosities." 
He was " then introduced to Dr. Clossey, who was 
exhibiting a course of experiments to his pupils 
to prove the elasticity of the air."^ Alexander 
Hamilton was a member of that class. He and 
Adams were not to know each other at this time, 
nor for many years, and then to know and dis- 
like each as political antagonists. 

The delegates passed on through New Jersey. 
What they heard on their way did not lessen the 

^ Life and Works ofjohtt Adams, vol. 2, p. 338. 
2 See Benjamin Franklin's letter, ante, p. 208. 
^ Life and Works of John Adams, vol. 2, p. 353. 



232 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

reasons already perceived for prudent conduct and 
circumspection. At Princeton, renowned for its 
learning and already conspicuous for its sympa- 
thy with the colonies, " they were told to be wary 
as they drew nearer to Philadelphia."^ At Frank- 
fort, a place five miles from that city, they were 
met by some gentlemen " ostensibly to do them 
honor, but really in part to apprise them exactly 
of the suspicions afloat respecting them. The 
cry .... was, that the Massachusetts men were 
aiming at nothing short of independence; even 
the calm spirit of Washington had been troubled 
by it."^ It had, in truth, become but too intel- 
ligible that the strong will in Massachusetts de- 
sired independent governance in all colonial af- 
fairs ; and, if it should be necessary to attain this 
object, entire political separation from England. 
The minds of many leading men there had grown 
to this; perhaps not as their first wish, but as 
the inevitable conclusion which would be forced 
by the ministerial policy upon the colonies at 
last. But such thoughts, especially when involv- 
ing separation from the mother country, were long 
regarded with suspicious dread. The peculiar 
strength of Massachusetts, therefore, was, that 
she came there to stand before the assembly as 

1 Life of John Adams^ by his son, vol. i, p. 209. 
^ Ibid.^ pp. 209, 210. Consult Bancroft's History of the United 
States, vol. 7, pp. 136-152, as to efforts to avert independence. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 233 

one who suffered in a special and greater degree 
for the common cause. She was bearing the 
heat and burden, and the personal danger, of 
resistance. Five other supplementary bills had 
rapidly followed the Boston Port Bill.^ These 
were purposely directed against Massachusetts. 
Yet they were founded upon and asserted a prin- 
ciple which involved the liberty of all the colonies. 
So stood Massachusetts in the presence of her 
sister colonies: "capable to stand" alone, and 
"free to fall," if that should be her fate. And still 
she held her own convictions of the efficacy of 
any conciliatory proposals ; " she would speak the 

1 "The first abrogated the clauses of the Massachusetts Charter, 
giving the election of the Council to the House of Representatives, 
and practically abolished town meetings ; it also transferred the 
power of appointing the sheriffs to the executive, and to the sheriffs 
it intrusted the return of juries. A second measure, known as the 
Quebec Act, extended the boundaries of Canada, so as to include 
the region on the Ohio and the Mississippi, the area of the pres- 
ent States of Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin, and Ohio. Over this 
enormous territory it established the rule of a military governor 
and a nominated council. The ministers who proposed and de- 
fended the bill hardly concealed their hope that the Roman Catholic 
population of Canada would allow itself to be used as an instru- 
ment to overawe the Protestant settlers in New England 

A third measure transferred the place of trial of civil officers and 
soldiers, indicted for any capital offense committed in supporting 
the revenue laws or in suppressing riots, to Great Britain. Two 
other acts legalized the quartering of troops within Boston or any 
other town. All these measures were passed by large majorities ; 
and a proposal of Edmund Burke, on the 19th of April, 1774, to 
repeal the Tea Duty, was contemptuously rejected." — Life of 
Lord Shelburne, vol. 2, pp. 305, 306. 



234 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

truth, write the truth, but would force the truth 
on no one." 

At ten o'clock on the morning of the 5th of 
September the delegates from the colonies met 
at the City Tavern. Two places were offered 
for the use of the Congress. The delegates pro- 
ceeded in a body to the Carpenters' Hall, and se- 
lected that ; though the State House, the other 
place offered, was equally convenient. Policy 
dictated the choice.-^ It implied an acknowledg- 
ment of the power and patriotism of the mechanic 
classes. Peyton Randolph, of Virginia, was elected 
President, and Charles Thomson, of Pennsylvania, 
Secretary. Each represented most influential 
phases of public opinion. The proceedings of the 
body were secret. They styled themselves " the 
delegates appointed by the good People of these 
Colonies," and spoke of themselves in official let- 
ters as " the guardians of the rights and liberties of 
the Colonies." ^ They did not take upon them- 
selves the functions of government, nor propose 
revolution. In their purpose it was to be "a 
revolution," as Edmund Burke says, "prevented 
rather than effected." There was disclosed a gen- 
eral harmony among the members in thought as 

1 Memoirs of James Duafie j in the Dociwie?ttary History of 
New York, vol. 4, p. 407. 

2 Letter of the Congress to General Gage, October 10, 1774. 
Journal of Congress, pp. 25, 26. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 235 

to the right and necessity of resisting; but opin- 
ions varied concerning the kind of opposition 
to be used. Reconciliation was believed by the 
greater number to be probable : and those were 
willing to trust again to respectful yet manly rea- 
soning of remonstrances. Others, like the two 
Adamses, had no faith, but were willing to assist 
to make the effort. But, whatever the diversities 
of sentiments and wishes, " the paramount idea, 
which kept all the passions within a clearly de- 
fined circle, was the absolute necessity of union. 
The fear of hazarding that, equally stimulated 
the timid and restrained the bold."^ Whatever 
contentious debates were inside the hall, the pub- 
lic ear and eye met with unanimous conclusions 
only. Wherefore it was that, though their acts 
had not the foundation of laws, the general adop- 
tion of their acts "gave them a power that laws 
rarely possess."^ In this council the names of 
Washington, Henry, Edmund Pendleton, John 
Rutledge, Jay, Roger Sherman, Dickinson, and 
John Adams, first came into national importance. 
Europe learned their worth; and the moderation 
and spirit and unity and strength of America was 
made manifest. 

We do not purpose to relate the inner history 
of the "first Congress." It is sufficient for our 

^ Life of John Adams, by his son, vol. i, pp. 215, 216. 
2 Curtis' History of the Constitution, vol. i, p. 25. 



236 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

purpose that we show the issues of its deliber- 
ation, and the effect which they had in impeUing 
the minds of the colonists to present an unbroken 
front of lawful and constitutional opposition to 
unlawful and unconstitutional proceedings. 

It will be borne in mind, by those in any ordi- 
nary degree acquainted with the history of this 
noble event, that it sent forth special addresses, 
the chief sum of its labors, which had an imme- 
diate effect upon the country. They were four in 
number: that to the People of Great Britain;^ 
that to the Inhabitants of the several Colonies;^ 
that to the King ; ^ and that to the Inhabitants of 
the Province of Quebec.^ Before the final ad- 
journment, which was on the 26th of October, 
1774, Congress removed the order of secrecy; 
directed that its Journal be sent to the press and 
printed for public circulation ; but the address to 
the King was enclosed in a letter to Franklin, 
Burke, and the other colony agents in London, 
desiring them to "deliver the petition into the 
hands of his Majesty," and, after it had been pre- 
sented, to make it " public through the press, to- 
gether with the list of grievances ; " " to call in the 
aid of such noblemen and gentlemen as were es- 
teemed firm friends to America ; " and " that the 
most effectual care be taken, as early as possible, 

1 October 21. 2 October 21. 3 October 25. 

^ October 26, and on passing this the Congress adjourned. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 237 

to furnish the trading cities and manufacturing 
towns, throughout the United Kingdom, with our 
memorial to the People of Great Britain." The 
letter, also, informing the agents that another Con- 
gress was proposed to be held on the loth of the 
ensuing May, asks them to transmit to the Speak- 
ers of the several colonial assemblies "the earliest 
information of the most authentic accounts .... 
of all such conduct and designs of Ministry and 
Parliament as it may concern America to know."^ 
Judged by the requirements of the occasion, which 
called for their production, these addresses must 
remain forever monuments of wisdom, appropriate 
reasoning, and decorous eloquence. 

The authorship of the address to the People of 
Great Britain and of that to the Inhabitants of the 
Province of Quebec was for some time disputed, 
as is frequently the case where several persons of 
known ability are engaged upon one work. John 
Jay is the author of the first address. To se- 
cure himself from interruption he left his usual 
lodsino-s, and in seclusion meditated and wrote 
this renowned appeal.^ The other address is now 
certainly known to be the work of John Dickin- 
son, of Delaware.^ 

The Congress was in session less than two 

1 Journal of Congress^ pp. 116-118. 

2 Life ofJoh7t Jay., by his son, vol. i, p. 30. 

8 Life of John Adams., by his son, vol. i, pp. 220, 221. 



238 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

months. Its conclusions were that the affairs in 
Massachusetts were endangering, by their effects, 
the Hberties of every other colony ; but that the 
urgency or necessity of engaging in active efforts 
directly in her support was not then to be ap- 
proved. To this, as it was by some thought, 
timid hesitation, those that saw otherwise will- 
ingly deferred ; they relinquished their own clear 
and, as the next year showed, just apprehensions, 
and assented to the course chosen. They pre- 
supposed how futile that course must be; yet 
felt how much more powerful and unconstrained 
would be the plan of colonial unity when that fu- 
tility was declared by the chilling and hostile re- 
ception with which their generous conduct was 
sure to be received by the King, the Parliament, 
and Ministry. The delegates from Massachusetts 
Bay were careful during all this time not to break 
the lines by being in advance of others,^ and did 
not fail to use, when prudent, the arts of manage- 
ment. When Jay and John Rutledge, out of re- 
gard to the diversity — perhaps repugnancy would 

1 To this end John Dickinson had previously written to Josiah 
Quincy, Jr., June 20, 1774: "Doubt not that every thing bears a 
most favorable aspect. Nothing can throw us into a pernicious 
confusion but the colony's breaking the line of opposition and ad- 
vancing before the rest. The one which dares to betray the com- 
mon cause by rushing forward, contrary to the maxims of disci- 
pline established by common sense and the experience of ages, will 
inevitably and utterly perish." — Memoirs of Josiah Quincy ., Jun., 
p. 169. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 239 

have been the fit expression — of rehgious opin- 
ions among the delegates, objected to directing 
that the next day's proceedings (September 7) be 
opened with prayer, Samuel Adams, the habitual 
and fierce opponent of establishing an Episcopal 
Church in America, instantly arose and moved 
that " Mr. Duche, an Episcopal clergyman, might 
be desired to read prayers to the Congress to-mor- 
row morning,"^ John Adams' policy was, not to 
intrude himself prominently as if a leader, but to 

1 The next morning Mr. Duch^ appeared there, in full clerical 
habit and attended by his clerks. He used the estabhshed ritual 
of the Church, and read, of course, Psalm xxxv. Its unexpected 
suitableness to the circumstances of the occasion and the feelings 
of the assemblage produced a deep impression. Whatever satis- 
faction the condemnatory portions of this Psalm gave to some of 
the less charitable members, the reading of the accusatory verses 
moved other delegates to tears : "11. False witnesses did rise up : 
they laid to my charge things that I knew not. 12. They rewarded 
me evil for good, to the great discomfort of my soul. 13. Never- 
theless, when they were sick, I put on sackcloth, and humbled my 
soul with fasting ; and my prayer shall turn into mine own bosom. 
14. I behaved myself as though it had been my friend or my brother ; 
I went heavily, as one that mourneth for his mother. 15. But in 
mine adversity they rejoiced, and gathered themselves together." 

There are two circumstances reported of this scene apt to excite 
somewhat differing reflections. Samuel Adams, on making the 
motion, said, that " he could hear a prayer from a gentleman of 
piety and virtue." — Life and Works of John Adams, vol. 2, p. 368. 
The expression was not unconsciously offered, but denoted a school 
of sentiment. The other is, that it was observed that Washington 
was the only member of the Congress who knelt during the ser- 
vices. The truth of this has been asserted by Peyton Randolph. 
The reasonable comment on each incident is obvious in the 
changed tone and practice of our own day. 



240 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

enlist leading men from the other colonies, espe- 
cially from Virginia, by putting them forward as 
advocates of the cause.^ " We have had number- 
less prejudices to remove here," he wrote from 
Philadelphia. " We have been obliged to act 
with great delicacy and caution. We have been 
obliged to keep ourselves out of sight, and to feel 
pulses and sound the depths ; to insinuate our 
sentiments, designs, and desires by means of other 
persons, sometimes of one province and sometimes 
of another I wish I could convince gentle- 
men of the danger or impracticability of this as 
fully as I believe it myself."^ John Adams be- 

1 Life of John Adauis^ by his son, vol. i, p. 220. 

2 Ibid.^ p. 213. John Adams' method of "feeling the pulses 
and sounding the depths " of others is illustrated by his own de- 
scription of his interview with Patrick Henry, "when Congress had 
finished their business, as they thought, in the autumn of 1774" 
'• I had, before we took leave of each other, some familiar conver- 
sation, in which I expressed a full conviction that all our resolves, 
declarations of rights, enumeration of wrongs, petitions and re- 
monstrances, and addresses, associations and agreements, though 
they might be expected by the people of America, and necessary 
to cement their union, would be but waste paper in England. He 
thought they might be of some use among the people of England, 
but would be totally lost upon the government. I had just re- 
ceived a letter, containing a few broken hints of what was proper 
to be done, and concluding with these words, ' After all we must 
fight.' This letter I read to Mr. Henry, who listened with great at- 
tention, and, as soon as I pronounced the words, ' After all, we 
must fight,' he erected his head, and, with an energy and vehe- 
mence that I can never forget, broke out with ' I am of that man's 
mind ! ' I put the letter into his hand ; and, when he had read it 
he returned it to me, with a solemn asseveration that he agreed 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 241 

lieved in independence as the only feasible re- 
course to regain and preserve colonial liberties. 
Samuel Adams believed and advocated separation 
and independence, as the desirable consummation 
above all things. Yet they and those of the same 
mind with them assented that affairs take the 
course marked out by the general desire. " The 
consequence was substantial union; whilst to the 
people outside the moral effect was that of ex- 
traordinary harmony in the policy of resistance. 
This accelerated that consolidation of all sections 
of opposition, which proved of the greatest value 
in the passage through the more critical periods 
of the struggle."-^ 

The first Congress was an accomplished and 
successful fact. It met for consultation and did 
not exceed its commission. It became a persua- 
sive moral force, convincing the hearts of men and 
preparing the way for the empire of free States. 
John Adams seems to have been half persuaded 
that the course adopted was prudent although not 
promising : " It seems to be the general opinion 
here that it is practicable for us in Massachusetts 
to live wholly without a legislature and courts of 
justice, as long as will be necessary to obtain relief 

entirely in opinion with the writer." — Letter written by John 
Adams to Attorney-General Wirt, dated January 23, 1818, and 
published in Kennedy's Life of William IViri, vol. 2, pp. 48, 
49. 

^ Life of John Adams, by his son, vol. I, p. 217. 
16 



242 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

.... the delegates here, and other persons from 
various parts, are unanimously very sanguine that 
if Boston and Massachusetts can possibly steer a 
middle course between obedience to the acts and 
open hostilities with the troops, the exertions of 
the colonies will procure a total change of meas- 
ures and full redress for us." ^ " The last words 
which R. H. Lee said to me, when we parted, 
were, 'We shall, infallibly, carry all our points. 
You will be completely relieved. All the offen- 
sive acts will be repealed. The army and navy 
will be recalled, and Britain will give up her fool- 
ish project' "^ 

The plan for redress, by non-importation, non- 
exportation, and non-consumption, should not be 
commended for its practical statesmanship. It 
must have failed as a measure of coercion upon 
England. But the strength of the Congress lay 
in its candor, its moderation, its respect for author- 
ity and power, its expression of the desire of the 
Colonies for peace, in its declaration that Parlia- 
ment had no constitutional right to impose taxes 
upon a people not represented in the legislative 
council, and that it stated no grievance having its 
origin beyond the acts of Parliament passed since 
1763. 

^ Life of John Adams, by his son, vol. i, pp. 214, 215, 
2 Life of Wirt, by Kennedy, vol. 2, p. 50 ; Letter of John Adams, 
of January 23, 18 18. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 243 

The representatives of the Colonies in Congress 
assembled had addressed the King and the Peo- 
ple of England, — not the Parliament. Their peti- 
tion and appeal were to their sovereign and to the 
source of political power. The appeal to the Peo- 
ple was without precedent. It rested in its prin- 
ciple. It acknowledged their existence as the 
foundation of the State, and their vitalizing polit- 
ical power within it. Jay must have been pleased 
to see a principle so dear to him receive an al- 
most national recognition. Hope elevated the 
heart of the people of America: while they ex- 
pectingly awaited a gracious answer to their grand 
remonstrance. 



CHAPTER VI. 
THE LIFE AND EPOCH, 

[1774-1775.] 

iETAT. 17-18. 



CHAPTER VI. 

[1774-1775.] 

When the proceedings of Congress were known 
in New York, public opinion converged to its 
several centres, and party lines took positions dis- 
tinct and permanent. The members of the old 
extreme liberty party were pleased. When Con- 
gress declared that, unless England restored the 
colonists to the political state in which they were 
before 1763, non-importation, non-exportation, and 
non-consumption would be strictly assumed, and 
the times when this should be done were fixed in 
the declaratory resolves, the same liberty men saw 
that this was their own implacable, negative policy 
which had, at last, triumphed. The doctrines ad- 
vanced by the " meeting in the fields " of the pre- 
vious July, though then censured in New York 
by the Committee of Fifty-one, found acceptance 
in a continental council of the colonies. 

Those who regarded favorably the plan adopted 
by Congress comprehended the main body of the 
people in the Province of New York, and com- 
prised in their number the aristocratic and con- 
servative elements of its society. It was gener- 



248 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

ally predicted that a satisfactory and permanent 
pacification must follow. But there were two co- 
teries, strong in spirit though not numerous, who 
saw clearer, deeper, and further. These appreci- 
ated the potent influences which, if unchecked or 
unsatisfied, would inevitably bear on to indepen- 
dence and separation. They saw that the issue be- 
tween the colonists and England went down to the 
root of the subject in dispute ; and that England 
must again, and now forever and without any reser- 
vation, abandon her doctrine of the omnipotence of 
Parliament, and her claim of right to tax the colo- 
nists while unrepresented; repeal unequivocally the 
offensive parliamentary acts ; withdraw her mili- 
tary forces from hostile occupation ; or by arms 
maintain her usurped authority. In this opinion 
both of these coteries agreed ; and they, likewise, 
believed that England would not recede one step 
in her aggressive scheme of subjugation. A rev- 
enue was needed ; her authority was questioned ; 
it was essential to her pride of place and power 
not to yield. It is not unusual nor unnatural, 
in like crises, to find moral elements which are 
most extreme and adverse, and the most active 
and powerful, agree in the fundamental principle 
of the contest ; because such elements, though 
irreconcilable, are direct and earnest, and admit 
no compromising expedients. So it was that 
the loyalists on one side, and those who nursed 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 249 

the Massachusetts predilection for the inevitabil- 
ity of independence on the other, did not wait to 
see how the congressional addresses and re- 
monstrances were received in England; but each 
set vigorously to work. 

The loyalists desired to nullify the influence 
which the placability and firmness of Congress 
were gaining throughout the Province of New 
York, and openly imputed, what they seemed 
to have fancied to be true, that this moderation 
in Congress, and its professions of loyalty to 
the Crown and of a desire for oonciliation, were 
merely specious and insincere. They insisted that 
whatever remained of established colonial oovern- 
ment in the provinces might be induced to con- 
demn, in some lawful form, the retaliatory meas- 
ures recommended by Congress ; and that the 
Legislature of the Province of New York, which 
was then about to convene, should inaugurate the 
policy of counteraction. Public opinion in that 
province, and in what are in our day described as 
the Middle States, had set strongly in favor of 
moderation. It was this moderation in all things 
which Congress embodied, and of which by au- 
thority it spoke. The answer which England 
would give to the petition and address was to 
confirm or change this friendly disposition. One 
of the methods, which the loyalists thought might 
be productive of good effects, was that the inhab- 



250 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

itants of New York should give, in an act of 
marked allegiance, an occasion for the ministry 
to yield with dignity somewhat to the people's 
will. The idea was better in its intention than in 
its wisdom. Such an occasion was to be given. 
But it shared the common fate : as we shall see. 
Yet the plenitude and equity of historical justice 
will not blame such men as these loyalists were. 
Their interest in the common weal was as great, 
and must be presumed to be as pure, as that of 
those who acted not with them. Hamilton did 
not traduce the motives nor sincerity of those 
who honestly differed from him. This sense of 
justice was habitual with him even at this early 
time. One of the most courageous and remark- 
able actions of his life, and one of his most con- 
summate expositions of the principles of political 
jurisprudence, after the close of the war for inde- 
pendence, was in defense of the legal rights of 
those loyalists. In his introductory sentences to 
the first number of " The Federalist," — when he 
was about to unfold to the People the form and 
substance of the new system of government for 
the Republic, — we have a good instance of this 
noble and heroic temper : — 

" I am well aware that it would be disingenuous to resolve 
indiscriminately the opposition of any set of men (merely 
because their situations might subject them to suspicion) 
into interested or ambitious views. Candor will oblige us to 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 251 

admit, that even such men may be actuated by upright in- 
tentions ; .... the honest errors of minds led astray by 
preconceived jealousies and fears. So numerous indeed and 
so powerful are the causes, which give a false bias to the 
judgment, that we, upon many occasions, see wise and good 
men on the wrong as well as on the right side of questions, 
of the first magnitude to society. This circumstance, if duly 
attended to, would furnish a lesson of moderation to those, 
who are ever so much persuaded of being in the right, in 
any controversy. And a further reason for caution, in this 
respect, might be drawn from the reflection, that we are not 
always sure, that those who advocate the truth are influenced 
by purer principles than their antagonists. Ambition, ava- 
rice, personal animosity, party opposition, and many other 
motives, not more laudable than these, are apt to operate as 
well upon those who support, as upon those who oppose, the 
right side of a question." ^ 

If the well-meant exertions of this band of loy- 
alists had succeeded in that which they proposed, 
and the relations of the Colonies with Encrland 
been restored with honor and liberty, their names 
would have been cherished by grateful posterity. 

The clergy of the Church of England, mission- 
aries in the Province of New York, felt a special 
interest in the controversy. To the obligation of 
allegiance was added, in their case, that of duty 
to the Church. The strife between the Church 
in America and those who are called Dissenters 
was one of long continuance. It began as early 
as 1753 ; and, though its heat had abated, it was 

^ The Federalist, No. i, pp. 2, 3. 



252 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

prepared to break out afresh at any moment. In 
no province was it more fierce and unqualified by 
charity than in that of Massachusetts Bay. It 
was less fierce in New York only in comparison. 
When viewed there, by itself, people seemed " to 
hate each other for the love of God." ^ Therefore, 
in the triumph of a revolt for independence and 
separation — which all of them agreed was the 
latent ambition of the Massachusetts mind — the 
clerical party saw nothing less than absolute and 
utter prostration for the Church.^ They wished 
well to the Kins^, but better to the Church. " Re 
que Diour It was by this coterie that the most 
honest, unselfish, and sacrificing labors were un- 
dertaken to oppose the influence of Congress, 
and to elicit from the inhabitants of New York 
renewed expressions of adherence to the Crown. 
Scarcely were the measures of Congress pub- 
lished when members of this section of the loyal- 
ists opened with vigorous attacks and counter- 
actions. Their efforts were organized and, as 
was evident, directed by some of their number 
best skilled in the art of controversy. Who their 

1 This was one of O'Connell's graphic expressions ; a species of 
rhetoric which he indulged, often with great popular applause. 

2 Bouchier's View of the Causes and Consequences of the Amer- 
ican Revolution, in Thirteefi Discourses, Preached in North 
America between the Years 1763 atid 1775. London, 1797. A re- 
markable book, and one to be consulted, especially its historical 
preface, by those who feel an interest in this part of the subject. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 253 

usual leaders had been was known, but which of 
them at this instant actively engaged against the 
colonial movement was not certain. 

Books, periodical-papers, and essays, for and 
against the colonial movement, soon came "thick 
as autumnal leaves;" generally without the au- 
thor's name and often without that of the printer 
and publisher. Two pamphlets on the proceed- 
ings of the Continental Congress, more remark- 
able at the moment than others, were published 
and distributed gratuitously among the people in 
New York and other provinces. They were in 
aid of the Crown, and were marked with unusual 
ability. The author's, printer's, and publisher's 
names were not given. That they were written 
by some of the most active and best informed of 
the clerical group was quite intelligently inferred. 
Popular curiosity was bitterly excited to discover 
the true author. Exemplary vengeance was loudly 
threatened ; the pillory was said to be the only 
suitable expiation for the offenders ; violent dis- 
cussions ensued ; disturbances in public places ; 
and, so little control had folks over their anger, 
— the author remaining undetected, — copies of 
these pamphlets were tarred, feathered, and nailed 
to the common pillory. The more thoughtful ad- 
vocates for the Congress, and of what had already 
become the popular cause, appreciated the force of 
the arguments used by those writers, and quickly 



254 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

determined that the higher necessity of the case 
required a prudent answer in kind, and without 
delay. For they knew too well that the paroxysm 
of mob-anger would pass off ; that its exhibitions 
of rage would affect nothing else so injuriously 
as the cause which they wished to serve ; while 
the reasons and eloquence of the " Friendly Ad- 
dress to all Reasonable Americans, on the Subject 
of our Political Confusions," and of the " Free 
Thoughts on the Proceedings of the Continental 
Congress," ^ by " A. Farmer," — which were the 
titles of the objectionable pamphlets, — would 
surely, if not satisfactorily answered, spread accept- 
ably among the people. But they were antici- 
pated in the performance of their design ; for, 
within a fortnight from the time when the letter 
first appeared which purported to be the work of a 
farmer, there came forth ^ from the press, " A Full 
Vindication of the Measures of the Congress from 
the Calumnies of their Enemies, in Answer to a 
Letter under the Signature of A. W. Farmer," 
embracing, in addition, " A General Address to 
the Inhabitants of America and a particular Ad- 
dress to the Farmers of the Province of New 
York," by " A Friend to America." The tide of 

1 Dated November i6, 1774. The motto of the first was : "Am 
I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the Truth ? " 
— St. Paul ; and of the second, " Hear me, for I will speak ! " 

2 On December 15, 1774. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 255 

hostile popular feeling in New York and other 
provinces was turned. The members of the pa- 
triot party were delighted, and thankful for the 
chance which gave the occasion for so satisfact- 
ory an exposition of the colonial rights of subjects 
of the crown, and of the motives and objects of 
the Congress. The thoughts, learning, and style 
indicated that the answer was that of some one of 
the ablest men of the day. In the same week 
with the publication of this anonymous answer, 
another pamphlet from the " Farmer," appeared ; 
and, again, without printer's or publisher's name. 
It was an " Examination into the Conduct of the 
Delegates at their Grand Convention Ad- 
dressed to the Merchants of New York ; " evi- 
dently printed before the answer to the " Free 
Thoughts" was brought to the knowledge of the 
" Farmer," for, in an appendix,^ he states that, as 
he would be well pleased with an opportunity of 
vindicating both his publications at the same time, 
.... he will wait ten days for his antagonist's 
" remarks upon the ' Examination into the Con- 
duct of the Delegates,' which he supposes will 
be full time enough for so very accomplished a 
writer." One would infer that the " Farmer " was 

^ Dated December 16, 1774. The pamphlet had for its motto : 
" Do you look upon these proceedings as the counsels of sobriety, 
or the dreams of inebriation ? Do they seem to you the delibera- 
tions of wisdom, or the ravings of phrenzy ? " — Cicero contra 
Rullum. 



256 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

of the general opinion that his antagonist was 
a chosen first man of the congressional party. 
Promptly to his word, when the ten days had 
passed, a letter addressed to the author of " A Full 
Vindication of the Measures of Congress " was 
published,^ and this time from the famous press 
of James Rivington. The imprimatur of so re- 
sponsible a publisher gave an authoritative aspect 
to the anonymous pamphlets ; and the public at 
once began to regard this phase of the contro- 
versy as a special one, which was bringing into 
clear and complete view the entire merits of the 
case between Great Britain and her colonies. So 
the reply was eagerly looked for. The fame of 
the debate had passed into other colonies. The 
reply quickly came,^ — and, likewise, from the 
Rivington press. This circumstance astonished 
some and pleased many, for that was the chief 

^ Dated December 24, 1774. Its motto was : 

" How hast thou instilled 
Thy malice into thousands, once upright 
And faithful ; now proved false ? " — Milton. 

2 On February 5, 1775, entitled: The Farmer refuted; or, a 
7nore Impartial and Comprehensive View of the Dispute between 
Great Britain and the Colonies, Intended as a Further Vindica- 
tion of the Congress J In Answer to a Letter from A. W. Fanner , 
Entitled, A View of the Controversy between Great Britain and 
her Colonies ; Including a Mode of Determitting the Present Dis- 
putes, Finally a7id Effectually, &^c. The Title promises Retnedies, 
but the Box itself Poisons. New York : Printed by James Riving- 
ton, 1775. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 257 

" Tory " printing-house. The knowledge, reason- 
ableness, earnest tone and mature sense, and pro- 
priety of language of this reply — addressing en- 
lightened thought and not passion — indicated to 
the general estimation none other than the mas- 
terly mind of William Livingston or John Jay; 
but the greater number inclined to believe that it 
was the distinguished citizen who had written the 
address " To the People of Great Britain " who 
now came to the defense of the Cono-ress. 

When a lad not yet nineteen years old was dis- 
covered to be the author, incredulity was surely 
pardonable. The collegian who had spoken to 
the " meeting in the fields " a few months before 
was publicly disclosed to have been the author. 
Hercules Mulligan was not the man to keep it a 
secret, nor to allow his young and gifted lodger to 
remain in the shade. Hamilton had read in his 
room at the residence in Water Street the manu- 
script to him. Hamilton read it to others. His 
fellow-collegian, Robert Troup, years afterwards,^ 
informs us in his reminiscences that " Dr. Cooper 
— the president of the college — assured me that 
he had no doubt the answers were from Jay's 
pen ; and he ridiculed the idea of their having 
been written by such a stripling as Hamilton. I 
well knew the contrary, as Hamilton wrote the 

^ Letter of Troup, dated March 31, 1828 ; quoted in Hamilton's 
History of the Republic, vol. i, p. 74. 
17 



258 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

answers when he and I occupied the same room 
in college, and I read them before they were sent 
to the press." Indeed, only irrefragable evidence 
convinced those who doubted and who did not yet 
know Hamilton. 

As an orator and as a political writer, Hamil- 
ton, while yet but eighteen years old, was — in 
an age remarkable for prudence, learning, and 
eloquence, in an epoch of " great pith and mo- 
ment " — before the people ; approved, and in the 
first line of their public men. " Sears was a 
warm man, but with little reflection ; M'Dougal 
was strong-minded ; and Jay, appearing to fall in 
with the measures of Sears, tempered and con- 
trolled them ; but Hamilton, after these writings, 
became our oracle." ^ 

Hamilton had been a prolific political writer 
for the public newspaper press since the spring of 
1774; and he continued like services for what 
may now be called the congressional cause, until 
the opening of actual hostilities required him, 
from interruptions, to lessen this kind of literary 
aid.^ Indeed, he never gave up an intimate and 

^ Marinus Willetts : quoted in Hamilton's History of the Re- 
public^ vol I, p. 74. 

2 What he wrote during 1 774-1 775 was published chiefly in a 
paper called The Age, and in HoWs Gazette. In the last paper, he 
had, unknown to his antagonist, a disputation with Dr. Cooper the 
President of his college ; and it was in that journal that Hamilton 
published his earliest known political essay. It was a defense of 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 259 

frequent connection with the newspaper-press ; 
he ever esteemed it the great estate by which 
public opinion is inspired, formed, and made po- 
tential in pubHc affairs ; and to the close of life 
he was the author of leading editorials in the 
" New York Evening Post," through his friend, 
the principal editor, William Coleman.^ 

Other pamphlets were sent from the same 
printing-house, the most important of which was 
one entitled, " What think ye of the Congress 
now? or, an Enquiry how far the Americans are 

the destruction of the tea, and was one of a number of articles cen- 
suring the measures of the ministry. 

1 William Coleman, so distinguished as the editor of TJie New 
York Evening Post, under the patronage of Hamilton. His op- 
ponents gave him the title of field marshal of Federal editors. His 
paper for several years gave the leading tone to the press of the 
Federal party. His acquaintances were often surprised by the abil- 
ity of some of his editorial articles, which were supposed to be be- 
yond his depth. " Having a convenient opportunity," says the cele- 
brated Jeremiah Mason, " I asked him who wrote, or aided in writ- 
ing those articles. He frankly answered that he made no secret of 
it ; that his paper was set up under the auspices of General Hamil- 
ton, and that he assisted him. I then asked, ' Does he write in 
your paper?' 'Never a word.' 'How, then, does he assist .'" His 
answer was : ' Whenever anything occurs on which I feel the want 
of information, I state the matter to him, sometimes in a note. He 
appoints a time when I may see him, usually a late hour of the 
evening. He always keeps himself minutely informed on all po- 
litical matters. As soon as I see him, he begins in a deliberate 
manner to dictate and I to note down in short-hand ; when he 
stops my article is completed ! ' At that time the first and ablest 
men in the country directed the course of the political press." — 
George S. Hillard's Life of Jeremiah Mason, pp. 32, 33. 



26o LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

bound to abide by and execute the Decisions of 
the late Congress ? " It was a very able argu- 
ment, and memorable, also, as among the last 
works of the Rivington Press. But the " Farmer " 
was not its author. He was to be heard no more 
from that source ; for an " untoward event " 
brought this and like debates to a sudden close 
on the 23d day of November following. 

England was heard from. The hope of Sam- 
uel Adams and the prediction of his colleague, 
John Adams, were fulfilled. England supercili- 
ously rejected what America loyally proposed. 
There was nothing then left for the colonists but 
to defend their liberties under the warrant and in 
the spirit of the English Constitution. Independ- 
ence at all events — possibly separation. 

Let us turn aside, at this point, from the way 
of affairs in the Province of New York, to con- 
sider some of the things done in the mean time 
in England. Insidious counsel had taught many 
there to suspect the sincerity of the Congress. 
Many believed that its secret aim was ultimate 
separation. It appears from the debates in Par- 
liament that this suspicion was strong in its ef- 
fects in several important quarters ; though the 
main argument lay in the presupposed necessity 
for a demonstration in force of the power of Eng- 
land, especially against Boston, and that a subju- 
gation to this power should, with an effective 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 26 1 

governmental policy, precede conciliation. The 
Writs of Assistance, it was said, had been with- 
held ; the Stamp Act had been repealed ; the 
scheme for taxation had been limited in its scope 
— in deference to popular clamor.^ The indul- 
gences of the past had educated the colonists to 
habits of independent thought and to disobedi- 
ence. Governments, it was also reasoned, may- 
be arbitrary, but cannot, without danger, be weak. 
But at heart the conspicuous object which lured 
the ministry itself was revenue. Premising these 
observations, we can now go on to relate, in a 
summary method, the principal incidents which 
attended the plan to reduce and tax a free, united, 
and sensitive people. 

The words which Thomas Pownall ^ addressed 

^ " The opinion here, " wrote Shelburne to Chatham, on February 
3, 1774, "is very general that America will submit; that govern- 
ment was taken by surprise when they repealed the Stamp Act, 
and that all may be recovered." — Fitzmaurice's Z?/"^ of Slielburne, 
vol. 2, p. 299. 

2 He was born in Lincoln, England, 1722. He came to America 
in 1753 ; four years after was appointed Governor of the Province 
of Massachusetts Bay ; was subsequently Lieutenant-governor of 
New Jersey, and afterwards Governor of South Carolina. He re- 
turned to England in 1761 ; was three times elected to Parliament ; 
and, retiring from public life in 1780, spent the remainder of his 
years in studies of an antiquarian and historical nature. Concern- 
ing America he wrote these books : Administration of the Colo- 
nies (1764) ; Description of the Middle States of Af/ierica (1776) ; 
A Memorial to the Sovereigns of Europe on the State of Affairs 
between the Old and the New IVorld (lySo) ] and A Memorial to 
the Sovereigns of America (1783). 



262 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

to the House of Commons on the evening of the 
2 2d of April, 1774, when the bill for better regu- 
lating the government of Massachusetts Bay was 
discussed, contained an announcement extraordi- 
nary only to those who were not fortunate enough 
to be as well acquainted as he had become with 
the temper of the people in America. He and 
Franklin had long regarded public concerns in 
the colonies from the same point of view ; and 
indulged a like imagination of the grandeur, prev- 
alence, and stability of a British Empire in Amer- 
ica. He said : — 

" The measures you are pursuing will be resisted, not by 
force or the effect of arms, but a regular united system. I 
told this House four years ago that the people of America 
would resist the tax then permitted to remain on them ; that 
they would not oppose power to power, but they would become 
implacable. Have they not been so from that time to this 
very hour ? I tell you now, that they will resist the measures 
now pursued in a more vigorous way. The committees of cor- 
respondence in the different provinces are in constant com- 
munication ; they do not trust in the conveyance of the post- 
office. As soon as intelligence of these affairs reaches them, 
they will judge it necessary to communicate with each other. 
It will be found inconvenient and ineffectual so to 'do by letters ; 
they must confer. They will hold a conference, — and to 
what these committees, thus met in Congress, will grow up, I 
will not say. Should recourse be had to arms, you will hear 
of other officers than those appointed by your Governor. 
Then, as in the late civil wars of this country, it will be of 
litde consequence to dispute who were the transgressors; 
that will be merely matter of opinion." ^ 

1 Adolphus' History of Engla7td, vol. 2, pp. 71, 72. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 263 

Thoroughly did this intimate friend of Frank- 
lin know the people of America, a part of whom 
he had once governed in the King's name. The 
proceedings of the Continental Congress proved 
to England that what Pownall had said was knowl- 
edge rather than prophecy. The enterprise of 
that Congress, its circumspection, its wisdom, its 
moderation and decorous words, commended it as 
a public representative body to the intelligence 
and patriotism of the best men in Great Britain. 
But it was suspicion, misconceived policy, and 
personal ambition that were not to be convinced 
nor conciliated. Chatham wrote : — 

" I have not words to express my satisfaction, that tlie Con- 
gress has conducted this most arduous and delicate business, 
with such manly wisdom and calm resolution, as do the high- 
est honor to their deliberations. Very few are the things con- 
tained in their resolves, which I could wish had been other- 
wise. Upon the whole, I think it must be evident to every 
unprejudiced man in England who feels for the rights of man- 
kind, that America, under all her oppressions and provocations, 
holds forth to us the most fair and just opening, for restoring 
harmony and affectionate intercourse as heretofore." -^ 

Afterward, on January 20, 1775, trying to per- 
suade the House of Lords to pass a resolution 
removing the troops from Boston, he asserted, 
that — 

"The spirit which now resists your taxation in America, 
is the same which formerly opposed loans, benevolences, and 

^ Chatham's Correspoiidctice, vol. 4, p. 368. 



264 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

ship-money, in England : the same spirit which called all 
England on its legs, and by the Bill of Rights vindicated the 
English Constitution — the same principle which established 
the great, fundamental, essential maxim of our liberties, — 
that no subject of England shall be taxed but by his own con- 
sent. This glorious spirit of whiggism animates three mill- 
ions in America ; who prefer poverty with liberty, and who 
will die in defense of their rights as men — as free men." .... 
" You might destroy their towns, and cut them off from the 
superfluities, perhaps the conveniences of life ; but they are 
prepared to despise your power, and will not lament their 
loss, while they have — what, my lords .'' — their woods and 
their liberty." ^ 

f It was during this debate that Chatham paid 
the superb and merited acknowledgment due to 
the rare genius and worth of the Continental 
Congress of 1774, — a eulogy which cannot be 
too often brought to mind in gratitude for the 
candor and justice of " the Great Commoner." 

" When your lordships look at the papers transmitted us 
from America ; when you consider their decency, firmness, 
and wisdom, you cannot but respect their cause and wish to 
make it your own. For myself, I must declare and avow, that 
in all my reading and observation, and history has been my 
favorite study, — I have read Thucydides, and have studied 
and admired the master states of the world, — that for solid- 
ity of reasoning, force of sagacity, and wisdom of conclusion 
under such a complication of difficult circumstances, no nation 
or body of men can stand in preference to the General Con- 

1 This sentiment he is supposed to have received from Franklin, 
who, by Chatham's express desire and his personal introduction 
into the House was present at this time. — Chatham's Correspond- 
ence, vol. 4, pp. 372-376. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 265 

gress at Philadelphia. I trust it is obvious to your lordships 
that all attempts to impose servitude upon such men, to es- 
tablish despotism over such a mighty continental nation, must 
be futile, must be fatal." ^ 

The efforts of Fox, Burke, Barre, Conway, 
Lord Shelburne, the Marquis of Rockingham, the 
dukes of Richmond, of Manchester, and of Cum- 
berland, Lord Camden, Lord John Cavendish, 

1 Tlie Htstoiy of Lord North'' s Ad/mnistratiott, p. 187; the 
Atiniial Register {iJT^), 1^. ^7. The report of Chatham's famous 
speech cited in the text is taken from that made by Mr. Hugh 
Boyd, which was published by him in the year 1779, '^ ^ pam- 
phlet, entitled, "Genuine Extracts of two sj^eeches of the late Earl 
of Chatham, with a preface and notes." {Aliscellaneous Works 
of Hugh Boyd, vol. I, pp. 196, 215, 255.) This version has been 
affirmed by several persons who heard the debate to be " strong 
and pecuharly accurate." {Life of Pitt, Dublin edirion, 1792, vol. 
2, pp. 126, 127, tiote.) There is another version, similar to that 
quoted, general in purport, in Belsham's History of Great Brit- 
ain, vol. 6, pp. 91-101. There is, also, a report made by Josiah 
Quincy, Jr., who was present on that occasion, and of which report 
Franklin wrote to Ouincy's father : " The notes of the speeches 
taken by your son .... are exceedingly valuable, as being by 
much the best account preserved of that day's debate." {Life of 
Josiah Quincy, Jr., pp. 318, 335.) It contains, however, but in 
very general terms, the above remarkable passage, though it de- 
scribes, in vivid phrases, the manner of Chatham. The extraor- 
dinary powers of mind, notwithstanding so much corporeal in- 
firmity, shown on that occasion by the "elder Pitt," recall to 
one's recollection the anecdote of Voltaire, who, on a visit to 
Turgot, when last in Paris, found the statesman wrapped in flan- 
nels, sufFering from a severe attack of gout, and unable to move : 
"You remind me of the image seen in Nebuchadnezzar's dream." 
"Oh," replied Turgot, "the feet of clay." "Yes ; and the head 
of gold, — the head of gold," added Voltaire. 



266 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

Dunning, afterwards Lord Ashburton, the Lord 
Bishop of Peterborough, — a noble band of true 
subjects struggHng to avert the dismemberment of 
the British Empire in America, and in inteUigent 
sympathy with the American Congress to that end, 
— the petitions sent to Parhament from mer- 
chants in London, Bristol, Waterford, Glasgow, 
Norwich, Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, 
Wolverhampton, Dudley, and other mercantile 
cities and towns,^ praying that it should desist, 
were all unavailing. Lord North alone, on the 
ministerial side, proposed what he conceived and, 
perhaps, meant to be a conciliatory measure. The 
Americans, so went this project, should arrange 
means for contributing their share to the common 
defense ; the exercise of the right to tax might 
then without hesitation be suspended ; and the 
privilege of raising their own allotment would 
be conceded to the colonists. The scheme dis- 
closed that the real motive and object was revenue. 
But the minister mistook the issue.^ It was the 
principle, not the fact, which America contested. 
Hamilton, in his first answer to the " Farmer," had 
said, " The Parliament claims a right to tax us in 
all cases whatever : its late acts are in virtue of 
that claim; it is the principle against which we 

^ Adolphus' History of England, vol. 2, p. 176. 
2 A history of Lord North's proposition is in Sparks' Works of 
Franklin, vol. 5, p. 70 ; and Journals of Congress, vol. i, p. 174. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 267 

contend." Burke repeated the like asseveration. 
The colonists themselves had shown this in their 
denunciation of the reserving clause, declaring the 
right to tax, in the repeal of the Stamp Act. The 
proposition could not and did not find favor in 
America. The proposition of Lord North found 
favor, however, in England, and brought over 
many to the side of the ministry. Even Pownall 
was unexpectedly won to this ministerial policy 
by the absurd venture, — one which, conceding 
nothing fundamentally, affirmed the fallacy. Pow- 
nall, in a speech delivered on the day when Lord 
North introduced this plan, [February 20, 1775,] 
imputing the origin of the conflict to the famous 
Congress which assembled at Albany, in the Prov- 
ince of New York, in May, 1754,^ at which he was 
present with Franklin, said, that — 

^ Those readers who may be interested will find the history and 
details of the plan meditated at that earliest Congress in Sparks' 
Life and Writings of Franklin, vol. i, p. 176, and in vol. 3, pp. 
22-55 j "^ Hutchinson's History of MassacJnisetts, vol. 3, p. 23 ; 
Bancroft's History of the U}iited States, vol. 4, pp. 1 21-126; and 
Curtis' History of the Constitutioti of the United States, vol. I, pp. 
8, 9. What Franklin said, in 1788, of this Congress, is notewor- 
thy : " The different and contradictory reasons of dislike to my plan 
make me suspect that it was really the true medium ; and I am 
still of opinion it would have been happy for both sides if it had 
been adopted. The colonies so united would have been sufficiently 
strong to have defended themselves ; there would have been no 
need of troops from England ; of course the subsequent pretext 
for taxing America, and the bloody contest it occasioned, would 
have been avoided." — Sparks' Life of Franklin, vol. i, p. 178. 



268 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

" He had the means of knowing the real opinion of the 
first men of business and abiUty in that country, and saw the 
rise of the present crisis. He had, therefore, always, in both 
countries, recommended such a mode of conduct as in his 
judgment was calculated to prevent a rupture ; but had the 
misfortune to find his counsel disregarded. He now, how- 
ever, saw the colonists resisting the government derived from 
the Crown and Parliament ; opposing rights which they had 
always acknowledged ; arming and arraying themselves, and 
carrying their opposition into force by arms ; under such cir- 
cumstances he could not deny the necessity which impelled 
this country to assume a hostile position ; the Americans 
themselves had rendered it necessary. But, although he ac- 
quiesced in the coercive measures of government, he ever 
looked to pacification, and hailed the proposition as a dawn 
of peace." ^ 

General Conway, first in time and in ardor 
among the earliest friends of the colonists, fell 
for a time into this way of thinking, and speaking 
of the Boston Port Bill as a lenient measure, said, 
also : — 

*' It is hoped and expected, that this want of confidence in 
the justice and tenderness of the mother-country, and this 
open resistance to its authority, can only have found place 
among the lower and more ignorant of the people. The bet- 
ter and wiser part of the colonies will know that decency and 
submission may prevail, not only to redress grievances, but 
to obtain grace and favor ; while the outrage of a public 
violence can expect nothing but severity and chastisement." ^ 

^ Adolphus' History of England, vol. 2, p. 191. The speech in 
full will be found in the Parliamentary History of Englatid, vol. 
18, pp. 322-329. 

^ See, also, Adolphus' History of England, vol. 2, p. 71. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 269 

This view of conquering a conciliation with the 
colonists removed many obstructions in the way 
of the ministry — was ostensibly put forward, and 
served well as a guise in which the scheme for 
revenue might yet be accomplished. 

Some members of the ministry and its adher- 
ents were already persuaded, as we have observed, 
that there was a number of persevering and ir- 
reconcilable public men in New England, with 
active sympathizers in other provinces, who would 
not rest content with anything less than entire 
separation from England. Indeed, beside the 
tales which had been borne to their ears, there 
was much in the history of the American Planta- 
tions, and something in human nature itself, to 
encourage the belief. Nevertheless Turgot and 
Vergennes drew a different inference upon philo- 
sophical and truer reasons : national affiliations, 
national habits and traditions, national pride in 
a common origin and language, and rooted in- 
terests, were not, in their opinion, so easily set 
aside. 

In a debate of the following session, on No- 
vember 15, 1775, Lord Mansfield — we anticipate 
so as to comprehend all that is essential to this 
view — in answer to things which had been said 
by the Duke of Richmond and Lords Camden 
and Shelburne, related what he regarded as the 
real source of the " pretensions which convulsed 
America, and agitated Great Britain : " — 



270 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

"The bad consequences of planting northern colonies were 
early predicted. Sir Joshua Child foretold, before the revo- 
lution of 1688, that they would, finally, prove our rivals in 
power, commerce, and manufactures. Davenant, adopting 
the same ideas, foresaw that whenever America found herself 
sufficiently strong to contend with the mother-country, she 
would endeavor to become a separate and independent state. 
This had been the constant object in New England, almost 
from her earliest infancy." ^ 

The English ParHament, by majorities most de- 
cisive, moved along with the Ministry in their de- 
termination to put forth " the dormant strength " 
of England " upon an adequate occasion," and 
this now became the ascendant policy. Among 
those who had already acceded to such a policy 
must, we think, be numbered William, Earl of 
Shelburne ; ^ for when the tax scheme was revived, 

^ Parliamentary History of England, vol. 18, pp. 955-958. 

' Afterwards the first Marquis of Lansdowne. When Talley- 
rand came to the United States in 1794, it was from him that he 
bore the letter of presentation to President Washington, which 
the latter, for reasons of policy, did not honor. — Sparks' Life and 
Writings of Washington, vol. 10, pp. 412, 436. Life of Lord Shel- 
burne, vol. 3, p. 515. Washington, however, wrote to Lord Lans- 
downe: " I have had the pleasure of receiving your Lordship's let- 
ter introducing to me M. Talleyrand-Perigord. It is matter of no 
small regret to me, that considerations of a public nature, which you 
will easily conjecture, have not hitherto permitted me to manifest 
towards that gentleman the sense I entertain of his personal char- 
acter, and of your Lordship's recommendation. But I am informed, 
that the reception he has met with in general has been such as to 
console him, as far as the state of society here will admit of it, for 
what he has relinquished in leaving Europe. Time must nat- 
urally be favorable to him everywhere, and may be expected to 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 271 

in 1767, that nobleman requested Mr. Maurice 
Morgann, his private secretary, to prepare a state- 
ment of reasons to serve as a guide for him along 
the probable course of events. This paper is 
worth our consideration ; for the light which it 
sheds reveals more clearly the purpose of the 
time, and of schemes subsequently attempted : — 

" Notwithstanding the great defects in the constitution of 
the American Provinces, they acknowledged and practiced a 
due obedience to the laws of the British Legislature until the 
enacting of the late Stamp Act. The progression of afTairs 
in America had not yet led the thoughts of men to independ- 
ence. They were obedient from habit, and from that rev- 
erence with which they considered the mother-country ; but 
the Stamp Act having an immediate tendency to destroy the 
whole frame of their constitution, by taking away from their 
legislatures the only subjects of taxation which the laws of 
trade and navigation had left them, it was no wonder, there- 
fore, if they thought of self-defense and resistance, that their 
habits of obedience were broken, and their reverence to- 
ward this country diminished. The feelings of mankind are 
generally more to be depended upon than their understand- 
ings. In England, the Stamp Act was a speculative point, 
but in America the meanest settler felt his freedom and his 
property to depend on the event." ^ 

But, notwithstanding these concessions to the 
historical justice of the case, it is recommended 
that — 

raise a man of his talents and merit above the temporary disadvan- 
tages, which in revolutions result from differences of political 
opinion." 

1 Fitzmaurice's Life of Shelburne^ vol. 2, pp. 50-54. 



2 72 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

" If Great Britain does not in some shape put forth her 
dignity on this occasion, she may end by losing all credit 
and reverence in America, and lose, likewise, her power there, 
which is and must be in a great measure founded on opinion. 
Some measures, therefore, it seems, ought to be taken of so 
bold and decisive a nature, as to convince the Americans 
that the long patience of Great Britain has been by no means 
owing to timidity ; and yet the ends of those measures should 
be so manifestly just and important, as to leave no room for 
jealousies and fears in the minds of the sober and well-dis- 
posed, and thereby give no pretense for common measures of 
resistance, and it would be still more desirable if those meas- 
ures could be directed against a particular province." ^ 

A deaf ear was now turned by Parliament to 
all further expostulation. Petitions were not to 
be entertained. Chatham introduced a bill which 
"framed a plan of adjustment, solid, honorable, 
and permanent." This he did in answer to the 
charge " that the measures of ministers were cen- 
sured by those who proposed nothing better." 
It was rejected by a vote of 6 1 to 32.- , Franklin, 
Bollan, and Lee prayed to be examined at the 
bar of the House in regard to the petition of 
Congress to the King. Their request was de- 
nied.^ Edmund Burke, near the close of the ses- 
sion, after three months almost daily discussion 
of American affairs, presented a remonstrance 

1 Ibid., vol. 2, p. 55, and vol. 3, p. 16. Concerning Maurice Mor- 
gann, see Boswell's yohnsoti, vol. 8, p. 387, n. 

2 January 25, 26, 1775. 
8 January 25, 26, 1775. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 273 

from New York, — a " quiet and loyal colony," — 
showing the harshness used to her sister colonies. 
It met with a like reception from Lords, Com- 
mons, and Privy Council, as other innumerable 
petitions and agents did: that is, few were re- 
ceived and none answered.^ This petition had 
been sent from the Assembly in pursuance of the 
efforts for conciliation advocated by the loyalists 
in that province, and was the result of their 
work.^ The Assembly had, likewise, declined to 
take into consideration the proceedings of the 
Continental Congress. Philip Schuyler, George 
Clinton, and Abraham Ten Broeck united in op- 
position ; but so great was the change already 
effected in public opinion, among the higher 
degrees of New York society, that eight of the 
majority of eleven in the division had been 
members of that committee of correspondence 
which issued the circular letter to the other colo- 
nies advising that the Congress of 1774 should 
be called. The Assembly declined likewise to 
send delegates to the Congress announced to 
meet at Philadelphia the ensuing May. Those 
special efforts of loyal disposition, it was advised 
in England, should be encouraged. But the pur- 
pose of the ministry was at last fixed, and Parlia- 

1 Prior's Life of Burke, vol. r, p. 312. 

2 MSS. statement of Bishop Seabury, hereafter to be more par- 
ticularly cited. 



2 74 LII'E AND EPOCH OF 

ment committed to their support. Lord North 
answered Burke, that ParHament could not hear 
anything which tended to call in question the 
right of taxing; and the memorial from New 
York was not even received. 

The doctrine of the Omnipotence of Parlia- 
ment was asseverated; the troops were not to be 
withdrawn from Boston ; proceedings were to 
continue against that " particular province ; " the 
" dignity of England " was to be displayed on the 
occasion ; and America required to yield a pas- 
sive obedience. 

The reply which America will make is already 
preparing. 

On the 26th of May, Parliament was prorogued. 
The second Continental Congress was at that 
time in session at Philadelphia. Franklin, who 
left London in the early part of March, had ar- 
rived at Philadelphia on the 5th of May. The 
Pennsylvania Assembly was then sitting, and 
passed a resolve, early the day after his arrival, 
adding him to the delegates appointed by that 
House on the part of the State to the Congress.^ 
He willingly accepted. It needed a public and 
unequivocal act on his part to dissociate himself 
in the minds of people from those who still 
looked for a British Empire in America, and to 
commit himself sincerely, in their acceptance, to 

1 Sparks' Works of Franklin^ vol. 8, pp. 149, 153, 154. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 275 

the cause of the colonists.^ He had reluctantly 
become convinced during his last days in Eng- 
land that the ministry would make independence 
probable for the few who wished ; however much 
the colonists at large strove to avoid it. The 
expression reported to him in London, as having 
been used by North, indicated, he thought, a pur- 
pose " so cool and calculated in the ministry as 
to render a compromise hopeless." ^ He had lost 
his patience with the ministry, and almost in- 
volved himself, on the eve of his departure, by 
attempting to present to Parliament a protest 
and threat, which would have exposed him to a 
prosecution. It was the only time that his won- 
derful circumspection and self-control seem to 
have been not by him.^ Franklin only deepened 
his consociates' previous impressions. The intel- 
ligence which had reached America of the pro- 
ceedings in Parliament, showing that that body 
would encourage no sympathy with the efforts 
making by Congress and by the loyalists, each in 
their separate, dissociate way, to preserve the in- 
tegrity of the empire, produced another marked re- 
vulsion. Congress and its adherents were amazed. 
It must be, they considered, that England was 

1 Life of James Otis, pp. 391-393- 

2 As to the remarkable expression used by Lord North, and the 
evidence relating to it, see ante, pp. 10, 11. 

3 Sparks' Works of Franklin, vol. 5, pp. 78-82. 



276 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

still misinformed concerning the temper, unity, 
and strength of the colonists. They knew that 
the revengeful spirit and the personal ambition of 
Bernard and Hutchinson were actively at work, 
and ascribed more to their evil power than was 
really due. Many believed them to be those who 
inspired the ministerial measures against Massa- 
chusetts. " I do assure you," said Pownall to 
Josiah Quincy, Jr., in London (November 26, 
1774), "all the measures against America were 
planned and pushed on by Bernard and Hutch- 
inson. They were incessant in their application 
to administration, and gave the most positive as- 
surance of success ; and I do assure you, America 
has not a more determined, insidious, and in- 
veterate enemy than Governor Hutchinson. He 
is now doing, and will continue to do, all he can 
against you."-^ "Mr. Inspector Williams called 
on me this morning," writes Quincy in his diary 
(December 7, 1774), "and again renewed to me 
his assurances that Governor Hutchinson was 
the sole cause and presser-on of the measures 
against Boston and all America. ' It is his ad- 
vice that dictated the steps of administration, 
and it is his present opinion and assurances that 
keep up the spirits and measures of the min- 
istry,' were his very words." ^ These things had 

1 Life of Josiah Quincy, Jr., by his son, pp. 241, 242. 

2 Ibid., p. 255. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 277 

been made known in America. They corrobo- 
rated like advice from other sources. 

The important events at home, more than ever, 
appeared to require that Congress should re- 
main as long as possible the common exponent 
and constant proposer of peace. Another peti- 
tion for conciliation should be sent to England. 
Congress was not aware at this time that Par- 
liament was prorogued; nor was it known that 
letters were sent to General Gage, at Boston, " to 
take possession of every colonial fort; to seize 
and secure all military stores of every kind col- 
lected for the rebels ; to arrest and imprison all 
such as should be thought to have committed 
treason ; to repress rebellion by force ; to make 
the public safety the first object of consideration ; 
to substitute more coercive measures for ordinary 
forms of proceeding, without pausing ' to require 
the aid of a civil magistrate ; ' " nor that " Thur- 
low and Wedderburn had given their opinion 
that the Massachusetts Provincial Congress was a 
treasonable body.^ An event, near at hand (June 
19, 1775), was to settle the irrelevancy and inaccu- 

^ Bancroft's History of the Utiited States, vol. 7, p. 284. " To 
call the Americans rebels was idle and wicked. The Romans had 
a war of a character similar to that being carried on in America. 
They did not call their enemies in that war rebels ; the war itself 
they called the Social War; and in the same sense he desired to 
call the war in America a Constitutional War." — Fitzmaurice's 
Life of Skelburne, vol. 2, p. 304. 



278 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

racy of the epithets, " rebel " and " rebellion," as ap- 
plied to the revolt of the Colonies. Neither was 
Parliament aware, when those orders were sent 
out, nor on the day when its session closed, that, 
while they were rejecting those peaceful and re- 
spectful solicitations, and while they were deter- 
mining to put forth an unmistakable demonstra- 
tion of the "dignity" and "power" of Parliament, 
a considerable part and the flower of the army of 
General Gage was flying, beaten and scattered, 
before the contemned inhabitants from the vil- 
lages of "the particular province."^ A few days 
after that session of Parliament had ended the 
names of Lexington and Concord became known 
in London. The ministry had their answer from 
Massachusetts, — 

" War for war, and blood for blood, 
Controllment for coxitroUment." ^ 

It was an English answer : often before made 
by the Englishry on English soil to usurped au- 
thority and illegal force. The spirits of Stephen 
Langton, of Simon de Montfort, and of John 
Hampden would approve that day as one which 
brightens the calendar of those events whereby 
the liberties of the people of England are main- 
tained. And somewhat of the fire and legitimate 

1 Bancroft's History of the United States, vol. 7, pp. ?,89, 310, 

343- 
^ King yohn, Act i., scene i. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 279 

temper of that elder time appeared when Wash- 
ington uttered the wish to " raise one thousand 
men, subsist them at his own expense, and march 
at their head for the rehef of Boston : " ^ and 
when the officers of the Virginia troops, in the 
moment that their campaign against the Indians 
terminated in a glorious victory, resolved (No- 
vember 5, 1774), in the depths of the western 
forest, " to exert every power within them for the 
defense of American liberty." ^ 

Though deeply stirred by the news from Mas- 
sachusetts, the serene wisdom of Congress re- 
mained unclouded. That innocent and valuable 
lives had been recklessly taken, and the land 
" bedaubed with its own children's blood," seemed 
to a part of that patriotic body an additional rea- 
son why another appeal should go forth, and now 
in the name of Mercy as well as of Justice. Par- 
liament may not remain inexorable ; but if it 
should — then, indeed, was " its heart hardened," 
and not capable to " understand the things which 
belong to its peace." Richard Penn, " a proprie- 
tary of Pennsylvania and recently its governor, a 
most loyal Englishman, bound by the strongest 
motives of affection and interest to avert Ameri- 
can independence," was selected to bear this new 

^ The Works of John Adams, vol. 2, p. 360. 
2 American Archives (Fourth Series), vol. i, p. 962 ; and Life 
of James Madison, by Rives, vol. i, pp. 66, 67. 



2 8o LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

petition.^ The day on which this was resolved 
Parliament adjourned for the session. It was to 
Richard Penn that Gouverneur Morris had writ- 
ten a letter so remarkable for the testimony which 
it bears to the existence of a profound and almost 
ineradicable prejudice against all New England 
and any sentiment known to spring from within 
its teaching. John Adams was of those who op- 
posed this mission. Washington was from the 
first convinced that there was not " anything to 
be expected from petitioning," and that they 
" ought to put their virtue and fortitude to the 
severest test;" indeed he had, in January preced- 
ing, aided in arming and organizing the militia 
of the County of Fairfax, Virginia.^ But John 
Dickinson, sincere and earnest in his opposition 
to Parliament, and toiling to prevent a separa- 
tion from England, "was yet the master spirit, 
whose exhortations swayed the middle colonies ; 
so it was determined once more to supplicate the 
King."^ The Provincial Congress of New York, 
which had produced a plan of accommodation, 
transmitted it to their delegates at Philadelphia, 
requesting them to " use every effort for com- 
promising this unhappy quarrel ; so that, if our 
well-meant endeavors shall fail of effect, we may 

^ Bancroft's History of the United States, vol. 8, p. 39. 
'^ Rives' Life of James Madison, vol. I, pp. 56-76. 
3 The Works of John Adams, vol. i, p. 172. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 28 1 

stand unreproachable by our own consciences in 
the last solemn appeal to the God of Battles." 
John Jay made the motion. But it was agreed 
that the immediate time was not to be lost in 
delay, and that the work of preparation for de- 
fense should go on. 

It could not be otherwise. Some of the Colo- 
nies were taking matters into their own hands 
from necessity; and Congress learned that its 
name was employed in warlike transactions even 
before it had met. The first overt act of war 
had occurred between inhabitants of Massachu- 
setts and the royal troops. Ticonderoga surren- 
dered to Ethan Allen at the dawn of the very 
day upon which Congress was invited first to 
assemble. He demanded its surrender in the 
name of that body while it was yet not even in 
existence. Reprisals by Canada were to be ex- 
pected. Armed bodies, gathered rapidly together 
in the ardor of self-defense, grouped themselves 
in one organization in the vicinity of Boston. 
Congress was a mere assembly without power, 
without money or the authority to raise it, — a 
simply deliberative and advisory body, as yet. 
Still, to the extent of its influence, it determined 
to support Massachusetts. The rising, however, 
was growing general in many of the Colonies. 
" A spark of fire inflames a compact building, a 
spark of spirit will as soon enkindle a united 



282 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

people," said Quincy. On the 26th of May, Con- 
gress resolved that the Colonies be immediately 
put in a state of defense ; and the exposed situa- 
tion of New York induced Congress to recom- 
mend that the militia should be armed and 
trained, and held in readiness to act at a mo- 
ment's notice ; ^ and adopting the troops which 
environed Boston, those became, in fact and title, 
the Continental Army. John Adams, finishing a 
letter on the 17th of June to his wife, wrote: 
" I can now inform you that the Congress have 
made choice of the modest and virtuous, the 
amiable, generous, and brave George Washing- 
ton, Esquire, to be General of the American 
Army, and that he is to repair, as soon as possi- 
ble, to the camp before Boston. This appoint- 
ment will have a great effect in cementing and 

securing the union of these colonies I 

hope the people of our province will treat the 
General with all the confidence and affection, 
that politeness and respect, which is due to one 
of the most important characters in the world. 
The liberties of America depend upon him, in a 
great degree." While John Adams was writing 
those words the contest between Parliament and 
the Colonies culminated in open and public war. 
The "battle," as it is called, of Bunker Hill, was 
going on. As a conflict of arms, beneath the 

1 Life of John Jay, by his son, vol. i, pp. 38, 39. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 283 

magnitude of a battle : but, in its immediate po- 
litical effect, it is to be esteemed one of the 
decisive battles of the world. Congress had now 
acquired power to take care, according to its own 
discretion, of the liberties of the land. Georgia 
had come into the combination, and the Union 
then comprehended the whole thirteen colonies. 
On July 3, 1775, Washington, by commission 
from the Congress, took command of the Ameri- 
can Army at Cambridge, Massachusetts. His 
headquarters were in the mansion to-day the 
home of the poet Longfellow. Congress, at the 
time of granting this commission, resolved, that 
they would maintain, assist, and adhere to George 
Washington, with their lives and fortunes, in the 
same cause.^ 

It was concluded that the new petition to the 
King should not be interrupted by the warlike 
course of events in the several Colonies. Con- 
gress had given, says Jefferson, " a signal proof of 
their indulgence to Mr. Dickinson, and of their 
desire not to go too fast for any respectable part 
of our body, in permitting him to draw their sec- 
ond petition to the King according to his own 
ideas, and passing it with scarcely any amend- 
ment. The disgust against its humility was gen- 
eral, and Mr. Dickinson's delight at its passage 
the only circumstance which reconciled them to 

^ Elliott's Debates, vol. i , p. 48. 



284 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

it."^ But Jay, in accord with the sentiment ex- 
pressed by the Congress of his Province, then 
and ever, insisted that it was beneficial. Its re- 
jection by England would incline people more 
to the necessity for independence, and justify 
further the resort to arms. Its moral effect was 
instantly good. It produced in America all he 
predicted ; and the Revolution was the steadier 
for the renewed attempt to conciliate. So on 
the 8th of July the petition, being engrossed, 
was signed individually by all the delegates, and 
Mr. Penn departed for England four days after, 
on the mission which well became the name he 
bore. 

In the opinion of some of the most important 
members of the Congress, current events, though 
full of resolution and power, had not yet carried 
the struggle beyond the scope of possible concili- 
ation. Franklin uttered what a considerable part 
of his fellow delegates thought, when he wrote 
these words to his friend, the celebrated Joseph 
Priestley : — 

" The Congress met at a time when all minds were exas- 
perated by the perfidy of General Gage and his attack on the 
country people, that propositions for attempting an accom- 
modation were not much relished ; and it has been with 
difficulty that we have carried another humble petition to the 
crown, to give Britain one more chance, one opportunity 
more, of renewing the friendship of the colonies ; which, 

^ The Works of Thomas Jefferson, vol. i, p. 9. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 285 

however, I think she has not sense enough to embrace, and 
so, I conclude, she has lost them forever." ^ 

And again, writing to another friend in Eng- 
land, supposed to be David Hartley, he urges: — 

" I wish as ardently as you can do for peace ; and should 
rejoice exceedingly in cooperating with you to that end. But 
every ship from Britain brings some intelligence of new meas- 
ures that tend more and more to exasperate ; and, it seems 
to me, that until you have found by dear experience the re- 
ducing us by force impracticable, you will think of nothing 
fair and reasonable. We have as yet resolved only on de- 
fensive measures. If you would recall your forces, and stay 
at home, we would meditate nothing to injure you. A little 
time so given for cooling on both sides would have excellent 

effects I clearly see we are on the high road to mutual 

family hatred and detestation. A separation of course will be 
inevitable. It is a million of pities so fair a plan as we have 
hitherto been engaged in should be destroyed by the mangling 
hands of a few blundering ministers. It will not be destroyed ; 
God will protect and prosper it ; you will only exclude your- 
selves from any share in it. We know that you may do us a 
great deal of mischief, and are determined to bear it patiently 
as long as we can. But if you flatter yourselves with beating 
us into submission, you know neither the people nor the coun- 
try. The Congress are still sitting, and will wait the result of 
their last petition.^'' ^ 

What we have written will, perhaps, be amply 
sufficient to remind us of the temper, motive, and 
object of Congress in their desire and methods 
for conciliation with Eno^land. It is the sub- 



'&' 



^ Sparks' Wriiings of Benjamin Frafiklin, vol. 8, p. 156. 
2 Sparks' Writings of Benjamin Franklin, vol. 8, p. 161. 



286 LIFE AND EPOCH, ETC. 

stance of that which history records. Each con- 
tribution which our time adds to the historical 
knowledge of that epoch, is but cumulative evi- 
dence of the truth of what we have related. We 
have not purposed to write the history of the 
Congress of 1775, nor of that which preceded it. 
We desire simply to sketch enough of their pro- 
ceedings and those of Parliament to assist us in 
understanding the real nature, philosophy, and 
history of the conflict as a "constitutional war," 
so far as the Colonies were involved in its begin- 
ning. The thoughts and posture of the colonists 
at this moment toward England was once after- 
wards to be most truthfully, sententiously, and in- 
telligibly acknowledged and reproduced. It was 
when Henry Grattan, great orator, pure patriot, 
consummate statesman, who had studied and 
knew the temper of the American Revolution, 
said at the Dungannon Convention, in 1782, while 
proclaiming the spirit of his own native land, un- 
der circumstances not unlike : " From injuries to 
arms, from arms to liberty; liberty with England, 
if England is so disposed — but at all events Lib- 
erty." ^ 

^ The Life of Henry Flood, p. 154; and The Case of Ireland 
Stated, by Robert Holmes. 



CHAPTER VII. 
THE LIFE AND EPOCH. 

[1775.] 

^TAT. 18. 



CHAPTER VII. 

[I775-] 

The old Colonial Assembly had quietly passed 
away. On the third of April, 1775, it adjourned. 
It never met again. It had done its best for the 
Crown : and the Crown did not heed it. As 
were the Sons of Liberty passively superseded 
the year before by the orderly and more discreet 
Committee of Fifty-one, so did the Colonial As- 
sembly fade away without formal act : and public 
opinion and public interest were to be truly repre- 
sented by a new body called the Provincial Con- 
vention. The Sons of Liberty joined the ranks 
of the congressional party. Not so the adher- 
ents of the Crown. The old Assembly, which had 
been in session since the fifteenth of January, re- 
fused to acknowledge, or to consider the recom- 
mendations of, the Continental Congress of 1774; 
it rejected a proposal to thank Jay and the other 
New York delegates; it refused to appoint dele- 
gates to the approaching Congress ; it declined to 
say a word of encouragement to the merchants 
who were supporting the policy of non-importa- 
19 



290 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

tion. The spirit of its conduct was unequivocal 
and sturdy — yielding nothing to popular feeling, 
and resisting all plans which, in the judgment of 
the members, tended to weaken the ties between 
England and the Colonies, or to impair the au- 
thority of her existing governance.^ The voices 
of Philip Schuyler and of George Clinton fell 
upon the ears of that Assembly as profitless as 
those of Chatham and Burke upon the Parliament 
in London. The influence of Schuyler and of 
Clinton was, however, considerable and growing. 
A majority of but one, when the motion to con- 
sider the proceedings of Congress was lost, showed 
the decreasing strength of the royalists. The 
labors of the session culminated and closed in 
the petition to the King, sent to Edmund Burke. 
But long ere the fate of that petition was heard 
of, another public body sat in the place of the 
ancient Assembly, and the news from Lexington 
and Concord admonished the members that their 
efforts were in vain and their political function 
useless. 

The Assembly, up to the time when it ceased 
to exist, was not unrepresentative. Around them 
were intelligent, wealthy, vigorous inhabitants, 
whose power was not more effective, only because 
England did not appreciate nor reciprocate their 
loyal services ; and finally, for the greater reason, 

1 Bancroft's History of the United States, vol. 7, pp. 208-212. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 291 

that the compact, steady, judicious conduct of 
the great body of the colonists overcame all who 
chose to oppose. New York was, perhaps, of all 
the Colonies, notable for a want of unanimity in 
the assertion and defense of the principles which 
inspired the resistance to the Parliament. In al- 
most every county many sided with the " mother- 
country." This sentiment was wider spread on 
Long Island than elsewhere, and was estimated 
to comprehend a large majority of its people. In 
Queens' County they had, by a defiant public vote, 
declared themselves neutral, and declined to take 
part in the proposed colonial re-assembling at 
Philadelphia.^ 

At its beginning and, perhaps, throughout the 
continuance of the contest, the British cause had 
more friends in the Province of New York than 
in any other of the colonies which sympathized 
with the Continental Congress. This may be 
assigned to many reasons. There were a large 
number of landed proprietors and wealthy farm- 
ers who naturally felt greater security for life and 
property under a familiar and established order of 
political dominion than could be expected from 
a forcible and turbulent change. The govern- 
ment agents to the Indians on the frontiers of 
the Province and along the valley of the Mo- 
hawk, looked up to for many years by the set- 

^ Life of John Jay, vol. I, pp. 41, 42. 



292" LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

tiers, had a strong influence over the inhabitants 
of those parts; and hence, for some time after 
the actual contest began, the people west of Al- 
bany were disposed to support " tory " tenden- 
cies and principles. Long Island, Staten Island, 
even the city of New York, and settlements on 
the banks of the Hudson below the Highlands, 
were so much exposed to any warlike hostile at- 
tack, that the ordinary instincts of human nature 
might account for such a proclivity, even if it had 
been more general. It was surely sufficient to 
make those colonists slow in casting off a natural 
allegiance to a power which, it seemed to them, 
they could neither resist nor elude.^ 

Westchester County, the home of John Jay and 
Gouverneur Morris, was not less prominent nor 
bold than Queen's County in its " tory " declara- 
tions. A man of strong will, clear perceptions, 
untiring diligence, learned and eloquent, was chief 
among those who organized and led an opposi- 
tion to the Congress and all tendencies to in- 
dependence in New York, and the adjoining 
counties. The extent and importance of it were 
rather suspected than known. This was Samuel 
Seabury,^ the rector of the parish church at West- 

1 Sparks' Life of Gouverneur Morris^ vol. i, p. yj. 

2 Born November 30, 1729, at Groton, near New London, in the 
Colony of Connecticut ; graduated from Yale College, 1748 ; he 
studied medicine in the University of Edinburgh, but, after acquir- 




Fac-simile from the picture in the possession of his great-grandson, the Rev. William J. Seabury, D. D. 
Heliotype Printing Co., Boston. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 293 

Chester. It was soon widely believed that the au- 
thorship of the letters by A Westchester Farmer 
might be credibly imputed to him. That he was 
the author is now put beyond dispute. The evi- 
dence, in his own handwriting, is before us as we 
pen these lines. He was a stout churchman, of 
strong convictions, and, by those convictions, a 
loyalist. He was sincerely and proudly an Amer- 
ican, in the sense in which Berkeley and Frank- 
lin were, when they saw the greater future of the 
Colonies in a grand British empire in America;^ 
but, like Berkeley, he wished to see the Church, 
in its Episcopal authority, able to accompany, in- 
dependently, the State in the boundless sphere of 
missionary duty which arose before their imagin- 
ations. In simple, earnest words, written in the 
hour of exile and affliction,^ he tells the story of 

ing a competent knowledge in that department he preferred to 
devote himself to the study of theology ; he was ordained dea- 
con on Friday, December 21, 1753, and on the Sunday following 
admitted to priest's orders, and on the same day by Sherlock, 
Bishop of London, licensed and authorized to perform the office 
of priest in New Jersey, and in 1754 he entered upon his duties, 
at New Brunswick, in that Province. He was, on January 12, 1757, 
collated and inducted into the parish of Jamaica, Long Island, by 
Sir Charles Hardy, governor of New York ; and having been in- 
stituted rector of St. Peters', in Westchester County, by mandate 
of Sir Henry Moore, December 3, 1766, he was formally inducted 
to that office March i, 1767, by the Rev. Myles Cooper, D. D., 
President of King's College. 

^ Ante, pp. 191-196. 

' Seabury MSS. 



294 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

that period. His dread of the influence which 
Massachusetts was directing against the intro- 
duction of the Church into New England, was 
equal to the hatred which Massachusetts pro- 
fessed against the episcopate. He feared, also, 
the concerted plans to a similar end which were 
set in operation by William Livingston and his 
party in New York. Those men were of that 
kind which was most active in propagating doc- 
trines going to alienate the hearts of the colonists 
from the English domination, and, by necessary 
inference, to uproot the few and slender plants 
which the Church had lodged in the new world. 
Seabury, on his return from England, which was 
soon after his ordination there, entered the field 
of polemic controversy. This was in 1754. He 
fully apprehended the course which probable 
events would take. About that time " periodical 
papers and essays began to be published in New 
York, tending to corrupt the principles of the 
people with regard to government, and to weaken 
their attachment to the Constitution of this coun- 
try, both in Church and State," ^ A paper of that 
sort made its appearance, styled the " Watch-tow- 
er," then supposed, and now known, to be written 
by William Livingston and his associates.^ Sea- 

1 Seabury MSS., draft of a Memorial to the Lords Commission- 
ers, written in London, October 20, 1783. 

2 Ante, pp. 164-166. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 295 

bury, in "conjunction with a number of his breth- 
ren and friends," wrote " several essays and pa- 
pers in answer to the ' Watch-tower,' with a view 
to prevent the ill effects it might have on the 

minds of the people Some years after, 

when it was evident, from continued publications 
in newspapers, and from the uniting of all the 
jarring interests of the Independents and Pres- 
byterians from Massachusetts to Georgia, un- 
der grand committees and synods, that some 
mischievous scheme was meditated against the 
Church of England and the British government 
in America," as Seabury continues to relate, he 
entered " into an agreement with the Rev. Dr. T. 
B. Chandler, then of Elizabethtown, New Jersey, 
and the Rev. Dr. Inglis, the rector of Trinity 
Church, in the city of New York, to watch all 
publications, either in newspapers or pamphlets, 
and so obviate the evil influence of such as ap- 
peared to have a bad tendency, by the speediest 
answers."^ Faithfully and arduously he did his 

^ "A jealousy of the designs of the English hierarchy was kept 
constantly alive, by the indications given from time to time of anx- 
iety to extend its authority over this country, and by the indiscreet 
conduct of some of its missionaries. Fear, hatred, and a long 
course of hereditary prejudices against the Church, combined al- 
most all the dissenting clergy of New England in constant oppo- 
sition to it, and naturally led them to sympathize with those who 
opposed the unconstitutional acts of political power. The inten- 
tions of the Church and the King were often mentioned in con- 
junction, and when the ambitious designs of the ministry under 



296 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

part of the agreement. He and his two associ- 
ates bore the whole weight of the controversy. 
When the commotions concerning the independ- 
ence of the Colonies began, Seabury was settled 
in the parish of Westchester. He, "perceiving 
matters were taking a most serious, and, " to his 
understanding, " alarming turn, .... thought it 
his duty to exert his utmost abilities and influ- 
ence in support of the government." He there- 
fore from the beginning opposed the election of 
all committees and congresses — in pursuance of 
which object he rode many days in the county of 
Westchester; assembled "the friends of govern- 
ment," and, at their head, denounced publicly 
" the lawless meetings and measures of the disaf- 
fected." At this moment he, with his friend Isaac 
Wilkins,^ assembled " near four hundred friends 
of government at the White Plains, who openly 
opposed and protested against any congress, con- 
vention, or committee ; and who were determined, 
if possible, to support the legal government of 
their country ; . . . . their proceedings and pro- 
test were published in Mr, Rivington's Gazette ; 
and there was no way of getting rid of such an 

George III. began to be apprehended, an extension of the power 
of the Church was supposed to be connected With them." — Life 
of Oils, p. 136 ; and Critical Review for October, 1764, article 
on Mayhew. 

^ It is to this gentleman that the authorship of the pamphlets by 
A Westchester Farmer has been frequently ascribed. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 297 

opposition, but for the disaffected in New York 
to send for an armed force from Connecticut into 
the county of Westchester, which they did, and, 
under its power, carried all their points." ^ 

While Seabury was thus employing his per- 
sonal influence in his own county of Westchester, 
he was not inattentive to the compact made by 
him with the Drs. Chandler and Inglis. It was in 
this way it came about that he wrote the pam- 
phlet entitled " Free Thoughts on the Proceed- 
ings of the Congress at Philadelphia." That pam- 
phlet was a labor of love as well as one of obliga- 
tion, for he was sincerely convinced that Congress 
" had shown, by their adopting the Suffolk Re- 
solves, that they had entered into a deep scheme 

^ Seabury MSS. The apprehensions of the Provincial Congress 
were excited by the vigor and prevalence of the growing opposition, 
and a report, evidently from Jay, recommended among other things 
which should be directed against Queen's County, that its inhabit- 
ants be put out of the protection of the United Colonies, and not 
be permitted to travel or abide beyond the limits of their own county ; 
that any lawyer who should bring or defend any action for them be 
deemed and treated as an enemy to the American cause, — which 
was, in effect, the infliction of civil death ; and that six hundred 
men from New Jersey, where William Livingston was now all 
powerful, and as many from Connecticut, where Sears then com- 
manded an organized miHtary body, be marched into that county to 
disarm the disaffected, and to arrest and keep in custody, till fur- 
ther orders, certain specified individuals. The report was adopted 
by the Congress. — Life of John Jay, by his son, vol. i , p. 42. From 
this act others, without perhaps direct authority, took license to 
ultimately invade the city of New York and Westchester County 
by armed bodies from Connecticut. 



298 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

of rebellion. He intended to point out, in a 
way accommodated to the comprehension of the 
farmers and landholders, the destructive influ- 
ences which the measures of the Congress, if 
acted upon, would have on them and the laboring 
part of the community." ^ To the pamphlet there 
were other answers than that by Hamilton ; but 
it was his which lifted this discussion particularly 
above all the others, centered upon it the general 
attention, imparted to that discussion on the peo- 
ple's side a moderation and reasonableness un- 
usual to popular contentions, and spread the fame 
of the mutual altercations throughout the prov- 
inces. Seabury followed up the " Thoughts " by 
his " Congress Canvassed," and the " Address to 
the Merchants of New York." 

When the Colonial Assembly was in session 
for the last time [January-April, 1775] Seabury 's 
persuasiveness upon that body was prevalent, and 
seems to have been most decisive. That there 
was some latent power, unknown to the public, 
which held the royalists up to the work set be- 
fore them, was manifest. Seabury is in our day 
disclosed to have been the inspiration and em- 
bodiment of that power. His zeal never outran 
his means nor his patience, and to the patient 
all things are possible. To aid him in this part 
of his labors he published, likewise anonymously, 

1 Seabury MSS. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 299 

"An Alarm to the Legislature of New York," in 
which he endeavored to show "that by adopting 
and establishing the proceedings of the Congress 
as most other assemblies had done, they would 
betray the rights and liberties of their constitu- 
ents, set up a new sovereign power in the Prov- 
ince, and plunge it into all the horrors of rebel- 
lion and civil war." He had personal interviews, 
just before the meeting of the Assembly, "with 
at least one third" of its members, "with whom 
he was well acquainted." How far the conversa- 
tion and writings of Seabury had weight in the 
deliberations of that House may be inferred from 
the rejection of the proceedings and declining all 
recognition of the Congress, and from the cir- 
cumstance that the petition and memorial were 
sent to the King and the Parliament. The tem- 
per of the Assembly was so unmistakable, that 
when Philip Schuyler, with kindling eye and ill- 
suppressed indignation, proposed this amendment 
to the petition to the King: "Although your maj- 
esty's subjects have, in some instances, submitted 
to the power exercised by the parent state, they, 
nevertheless, consider themselves entitled to an 
equal participation of freedom with their fellow- 
subjects in Great Britain," it was lost.^ Yet noth- 
ing came but humiliation from the obsequious- 
ness of the old Colonial Assembly. 

^ History of the Republic, by J. C Hamilton, vol. i, p. 82. 



300 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

A suspicion that Seabury was the writer of the 
opprobrious pamphlets gaining some currency at 
this time, and the certain knowledge that his ad- 
vice was taken by the royalists, were the immedi- 
ate causes of the attempt made, soon after the ad- 
journment of the Assembly, by a body of troops 
stationed at Rye, fifteen miles distant from his 
residence, to seize him and Isaac Wilkins, then 
member for Westchester. Forewarned, they re- 
tired for some time. Wilkins did not return 
home, but embarked for England. Seabury re- 
mained, and did not abate in ardor nor works. 
On the 23d day of November, 1775, Isaac Sears, 
now a member of the Provincial Congress and 
captain, rode at the head of an armed body of 
one hundred horsemen, belonging to the adjoin- 
ing Province of Connecticut, into the city of New 
York. Rivington's printing-house had never been 
to the liking of that indiscreet and implacable 
" son of liberty." It was now more intolerable to 
him than ever. The types and printing materials 
were taken by him and his troopers, and carried 
with much ostentatious delight to Connecticut. 
This was simply the end of controversy between 
the Westchester Farmer and Hamilton. The 
question had, in truth, already passed beyond the 
power of words, and entered the domain of arms. 
But the raid was a bold act, done in the open day. 
No responsible person approved the incursion ; it 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 301 

was commonly regarded as an unauthorized at- 
tack upon the peace and dignity of the Province. 
It filled many people with fear and foreboding. 
Hamilton and others volunteered to unite with 
the militia organization in the city, pursue Sears, 
and without delay redress the wrong. Had the 
current of angry feeling, natural to the occasion, 
not been quickly stayed by the super-controlling 
events in England, the Crown would have derived 
from the moral effect of the outrage an auxiliary in 
New York greater than any which had yet arisen 
from circumstance; for the indignity declared an 
underlying spirit of terrorism, fitful and incapable 
of restraint ; all the more dreaded as coming di- 
rectly from a province in full sympathy with the 
aspirations of Massachusetts for independence.^ 

^ Rivington, a person of unusual intelligence, and with the edu- 
cation and manners of a gentleman, does not appear creditably 
as viewed in the detecting light of historical disclosure. When 
his printing-house was destroyed he went to England, and returned 
in the autumn, after the royal army took possession of New York. 
Early in 1777 he resumed the publication of his journal, and con- 
tinuously abused Washington and Congress, and all relating to 
the United Colonies. It is a well-attested fact that he, secretly, 
during all this, was furnishing Washington with information con- 
cerning proceedings in New York. This was so from early in 1781 
to 1783. By means of books which he printed he appears to have 
carried on safely his ignoble task. The information was written 
upon thin paper, which was then bound in the covers of books, 
and these he managed to sell to persons employed by Washington 
to buy of him, but who were ignorant of the device. Washington 
removed the covers and got the communications. — Lossin^s Emi- 
nent Americans, p. 208. 



302 LIFE AND EPOCH OE 

Some days previous to the attack on Riving- 
ton's printing-house, Sears, with sixteen compan- 
ions, set out from New Haven for the purpose of 
seizing the persons of Seabury, Lord Underhill, 
the Mayor of the borough of Westchester, and 
Mr. Fowler, one of the justices of the county. 
On their way they were joined by about eighty 
other men going to New York, who seem to have 
been in different companies, as they were com- 
manded by Captains Richards, SeUick, and Mead. 
After burning a small sloop at Mamaroneck, and 
taking Underhill and Fowler, the party went (No- 
vember 19) to the rectory of Seabury, and, "not 
finding him at home, they beat his children to 
oblige them to tell where their father was, which 
not succeeding, they searched the neighborhood 
and took him from his school," and placed him, 
together with Underhill and Fowler, under a 
strong guard, to be conducted to Connecticut. 
The main body then, united under the command 
of Sears, went on their way to New York to de- 
stroy Rivington's establishment, and the guard, 
" with much abusive language," proceeded with 
the three prisoners " in great triumph to New 
Haven, seventy miles distant, where he was pa- 
raded through most of the streets, and their suc- 
cess celebrated by firing of cannon, etc. At New 
Haven he was confined under a military guard 
and keepers for six weeks, during which time they 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 303 

endeavored to fix the publication of A W. Farm- 
er's pamphlets on him, which failing, and some 
of the principal people in that country disapprov- 
ing their conduct, he was permitted to return 
home."^ Seabury was then allowed to remain in 
tolerable quiet till the spring of 1776. At that 
time he suffered much, both from insult and the 
loss of property, by the parties of recruits who 
were almost daily passing through his parish to 
join the Continental Army in the city of New 
York. The retreat of the American forces after 
the final engagement on Long Island, on the 
27th of August, 1776, gave him a welcome op- 

^ Seabury MSS. See, also, the Constitiitiotial Gazette, Novem- 
ber 25, 1775 ; the Pennsylvania Journal, December 6, 1775 > the 
New York Colotiial Mamiscripts, vol. 8, p. 645 ; the Middlesex 
y(!7«r«a/ (London), January 11, 1776; the Gentleman's Magazine, 
November, 1776, vol. 46, p. 509 ; the Proceedings of the New York 
General Committee, November 23 and 24, 1775 ; and the Proceed- 
ings of the New York Provincial Congress, December 8, 1775, to 
June 10, 1776. The Provincial Congress addressed a letter, dated 
December 12, 1775, to Jonathan Trumbull, the Governor of Con- 
necticut, on this occasion, complaining of the acts of Sears as 'in- 
vasions of our essential rights as a distinct colony," and specially 
calling attention to the Rev. Mr. Seabury, who " we are informed 
is still detained. If such should be the case, we must entreat your 
friendly interposition for his immediate discharge ; the more es- 
pecially as, considering his ecclesiastical character (which, perhaps, 
is venerated by many friends to liberty), the severity which has 
been used towards him may subject to misconstructions preju- 
dicial to the common cause." The extracts from the newspapers 
and proceedings referred to in this note are collected and pub- 
lished in the Manual of the City of New York for 1868, pp. 813- 
827. 



304 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

portunity to take refuge with the Royal army at 
Brooklyn, which he did on the ist of September 
following, and he continued with it on Long Isl- 
and, and during its progress through Westches- 
ter County, eight weeks, and rendered " services 
not altogether useless." During this absence 
his home was pillaged, and he, with his family, 
left destitute. In November, when the Royal 
army departed the county of Westchester, he was 
obliged to remove his family to the city of New 
York for safety. The royalists were there in pos- 
session, and remained so until after the peace of 
1783 was concluded. He resumed, during this 
intermediate time, the practice of medicine, in 
which he was well skilled, as a means of tempo- 
rary support for his family. In June, 1777, he was 
appointed by Sir William Howe chaplain to the 
Provincial Hospital at New York, and in Janu- 
ary, 1778, chaplain to the King's American Regi- 
ment. He held those offices till he went from 
New York, on the 7th of June, 1783, direct to 
England, and there he, in lodgings at No. 393 
Oxford Street, London, resolutely and hopefully 
meditated how best to serve the Church, which 
was nearest and ever in his heart of hearts. 

Seabury had been faithful to the traditions and 
principles in which he was nurtured. His is 
an instance of simple-minded, honest devotion. 
Whether mistaken in its policy or propriety of 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 305 

duty, the dazzling light of our own success prob- 
ably lessens our ability clearly to perceive and 
impartially to judge. And historical justice re- 
gards the intention, not the mere result. Those 
are noble men, says one of our best writers, who 
dare to fail.^ Their characters are impressed with 
the heroic mould. Fixed in heart and definite 
in thought, their moral and intellectual nature 
strengthening into immutable principle, at the 
same time develops into habit. Opinions, when 
accidental and superficial, float over the wide ex- 
panse of such minds as summer clouds. The 
minute intellect of inferior men has often its mo- 
ments of triumph over such superior natures. 
They excel only in the perspicuity of short and 
sharpsightedness.^ Seabury had done what he 
believed to be his duty to the King and to the 
State : that had passed. His God and the Church 
remained. To America he would return, and 
there resume the labor in his Master's vineyard. 
He was disenthralled from a conscientious, but 
embarrassing, allegiance. Providence had per- 
mitted his native land to be a state without a 

^ Church, Dean of St. Paul's, London. 

* " Did you never observe," asks Plato, " the narrow intellect 
flashing from the keen eye of a clever rogue, how clearly his paltry 
soul sees the way to his end ; he is the reverse of blind, but his 
keen sight is taken into the service of evil, and he is dangerous in 
proportion to his intelligence .'' " — Republic, vii., p. 519 ; and t. ii., 
p. 352, Jowett's Tratislation. 



3o6 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

king; it was his cherished task to see that it 
should have a church, and not without a bishop. 
Nulla ecclesia sine episcopo, was the legend which 
he adopted to proclaim his design. He saw that 
his true mission and purpose of life now opened 
to him. He was sent to be the first bishop of 
the American Church. The Church of England 
refused to consecrate him because he persisted 
in his refusal to take the customary oath of al- 
legiance to the Crown. Principle and affection 
alike stood between him and that requirement. 
The independence of his native land was already- 
acknowledged by him who had been his king. It 
was the United States of America in fact and by 
right. Greatly as he preferred that his episcopal 
authority and apostolic power should proceed 
from the Church of England, by which he had 
been ordained as deacon and priest, he applied to 
the Church of Scotland. He was consecrated at 
Longeau, Aberdeen, on Sunday, November 14, 
1784, by Bishop Kilgour, primus. Bishop Petrie, 
and Bishop Skinner, who describe themselves 
in the concordat then made with the American 
bishop, as "of the Catholic remainder of the an- 
cient church of Scotland."-^ On the Sunday after 
his arrival in America, June 20, 1785, he preached 
his first sermon in Newport, Rhode Island, at 
which place he landed ; it was delivered from the 

^ See Appendix B. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 307 

pulpit where Berkeley had often proclaimed aspi- 
rations that the Church might be " planted " in 
America.^ He fixed the seat of his episcopal see 
in that very Connecticut to which he had been 
led a prisoner by violent men, paraded as a cap- 
tive through the streets of its principal city, and 
immured in its jail for six weeks, insulted and 
threatened. 

'' Servant of God, well done ! Well hast thou fought 
The better fight, who single hast maintained 

the cause 

Of truth, .... 

And for the testimony of truth hast borne 

Universal reproach, far worse to bear 

Than violence ; for this was all thy care. 

To stand approved in sight of God, though worlds 

Judged thee perverse. The easier conquest now 

Remains thee, aided by a host of friends. 

Back on thy foes more glorious to return 

Than scorned thou didst depart." 2 

He came there to preach a greater peace than 
that which had resulted from the shock of arms. 
He was respected and heard. He was still the 
same simple, grand, conciliatory, uncompromising 
man. He omitted nothing that the sacerdotal 
traditions of time and custom had associated with 
his high office. In his office he buried his per- 
sonality, subscribing himself " Samuel of Connec- 
ticut," and a mitre, still preserved " with religious 

1 The text was from Hebrews, chap. xii. v. i, 2 ; and regarded 
as remarkably appropriate to the occasion. 

2 Milton, Paradise Lost, book vi., lines 29-40. 



308 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

care" in Trinity College, Hartford, pressed his 
brows.^ In his private life he was most frugal 
and unostentatious. His sermons, in their style, 
remind us of those which Sherlock spoke when 
Master of the Temple. Perhaps there is a reason 
why Sherlock's writings had so much influence 
upon Seabury, for, besides receiving ordination 
under the supervision of that prelate, " Episco- 
pacy, or the patriarchate," in America, was said to 
have been first proposed by Bishop Sherlock in 
the reign of George II.; which was then very 
coldly received, and he was never afterwards sum- 
moned to the Privy Council.^ The University 

1 On his arrival from England there was a general curiosity to 
see and to hear him preach, especially in Connecticut, although the 
mass of the people there, being Congregationalists, and knowing 
that he had been an active and conspicuous tory, were prejudiced 
against him. In their fancy, a bishop who was said to prefer mon- 
archy to a republic, and was called " My Lord Bishop," rode in a 
coach, and appeared in robes unfamiliar and strange to them, was 
something formidable if not dangerous to the state. When he came 
to New Haven to preach, soon after his return from England, the 
church was crowded. Many were necessarily excluded. When 
the service was over, a man of the middle class met one of his ac- 
quaintances at the door, who had been unable to get in. " Well, did 
you see him ? " asked the latter. " Oh yes." " And did he preach ? " 
" Oh yes. ' " And was he as proud as Lucifer .-' " " Not a bit of 
it : why, he preached in his shirt-sleeves." Physicians who had 
business to go from town to town went on horseback ; all cler- 
gymen, except, perhaps. Bishop Seabury, who rode in a coach, 
traveled in a like way. — Recollections of a Lzfeti?ne, etc., by S. 
G. Goodrich {Peter Parley), vol. i, pp. 132, 190, 191. 

2 Life of Otis, p. 136. 



-1 



ALEXANDER HAMILT^ON. 309 

of Oxford conferred upon Seabury the degree of 
Doctor of Sacred Theology.^ He died suddenly 
on the twenty-fifth of February, 1 796, in the sixty- 
seventh year of his age. His bodily remains are 
buried in the crypt, beneath St. James' Church, 
New London, in the State of Connecticut, hon- 
ored by the reverence of that diocese of which he 
was the first bishop, and by a people who had 
learned to esteem and respect him as citizen and 
prelate. 

Such was the noble man whom Hamilton en- 
countered in that remarkable controversy, by 
which the young collegian showed those talents 
which made him the " oracle " of his party. 

A Convention met in the city of New York on 
the 20th of April, 1775. Its members had been 
elected by the counties of the Province, and were 
empowered simply to choose delegates to the sec- 
ond Continental Congress. It was intended that 
they should do merely one act which the Colonial 
Assembly had refused. The Convention, there- 
fore, having chosen delegates, its ofHce was at an 
end. The day [April 23] after it adjourned, the 
news of Lexington and Concord reached New 
York. The committee advised that a Provincial 
Congress, a body of a permanent and authoritative 
nature, should be immediately summoned through 
the People; and, also, a new committee, to con- 

1 December 15, 1777. 



3IO LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

sist of one hundred persons/ be elected by the 
freemen and freeholders of the city and county. 
This would provide for a governing power as ex- 
tensive as the Province. A call was made by the 
inhabitants at large for the united " counsel and 
aid of the Colony ; and for its people to associate 
under all the ties of religion, honor, and love of 
country ; to adopt and endeavor to carry into exe- 
cution whatever measures may be recommended 
by the Continental Congress, or resolved upon by 
the Provincial Convention, for the purpose of pre- 
serving their constitution, and opposing the exe- 
cution of the several arbitrary and offensive acts 
of the British Parliament ; until a reconciliation 
between Great Britain and America, on constitu- 
tional principles, which is most ardently desired, 
can be obtained." ^ The Committee of One Hun- 
dred was chosen, and authorized to take charge 
of municipal concerns, by a meeting of citizens 
which assembled at the Coffee-House. 

It will serve a purpose — hereafter to be con- 
sidered when we treat of Hamilton as the founder 
of the states in empire — for us to explain here 
the theoretical idea from which this new represen- 
tative government was educed.^ As the authority 

^ Hercules Mulligan was elected a member. The election was 
held on May 5, 1775. Lindley Murray, the famous grammarian, 
was also a member. 

2 Sparks' Life of Gonvernen)' Morris, vol. i, p. 35. 

* See Jay's letter returning an answer to the official notification 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 311 

of England was in abeyance or thrown off, for 
the time being at least, the inherent authority of 
government, by a law of natural declension, passed 
into the hands of the People. No man, or body 
of men, had power to command any other body 
of men, or individual ; and the structure of gov- 
ernment could be raised only on the strength of 
powers delegated anew to certain persons, for this 
special purpose, by the willing voice of the People, 
whom circumstances had made the sole arbiters 
of their own political state. Hence the primary 
movement was, to bring the people to understand 
their interests and act in concert ; and the first 
means used to attain this end had been the es- 
tablishment, early in the contest, of committees of 
correspondence in different parts of the country. 
These committees were chosen by the People in 
towns, counties, parishes, districts, and smaller 
communities. They were intrusted with always 
carefully defined powers, which would enable them 
to correspond with each other, and to represent 
in some sort the political views, objects, and in- 
terests of their constituents. So necessary was 
the scheme in itself, and so well adapted to pro- 
mote the general welfare, that it was acceded to 
everywhere ; and, in a short time, committees were 
so universally appointed throughout the Colonies, 

of his appointment as a delegate to the Congress of 1774, published 
in the Life of Jay, vol. i, pp. 26, 27. See ante, pp. 24-26. 



312 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

that those incHned to the colonial cause had di- 
rect and speedy channels open with each other in 
every part of the Continent.-^ This increased their 
confidence, gave harmony to their conduct, and 
scattered seed for a future union. The delegates 
to the Continental Congress of 1774 had been 
chosen in various ways. In Massachusetts, and 
some other colonies, by the regular assemblies, 
apparently without any powers directly from the 
People for this object. In other colonies, they were 
appointed by a convention of committees elected 
by the people for that very purpose. Again, as 
in New York, by committees in their simple ca- 
pacities as such : the committees first nominating 
a number of delegates, and then the People ap- 
proved. Still, it must be seen that, in every 
method of election, whether to offices of a higher 
or lower rank, the principle was the same. The 
leaders were cautious that the power should actu- 
ally and unmistakably proceed from the People ; 
and it is not likely that in a single elective body 
on the Continent there was an instance of a per- 

^ " The union, effected among the Colonies, by means of corre- 
sponding committees, was a death-blow to the authority of Britain ; 
the Americans were sensible of the advantage, and, as soon as the 
cooperation of all parts of the Continent was insured, advanced 
bolder claims, diffused broader principles of government, and as- 
sumed with less disguise the port and mien of defiance." — Adol- 
phus' History of England, vol. 2, p. 133. This writer is a very 
earnest, although a not very judicious, apologist for the adminis- 
tration of Lord North. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 313 

son taking his seat as a member, without present- 
ing an authenticated and legal certificate that he 
was validly chosen. To this careful attention to 
the rights of the People, as the original and im- 
perishable source, — to this endeavor, occasion- 
ing all the first springs of government to proceed 
from them, — must be ascribed, more than to any 
other reason, their confidence in the rulers of their 
choice, and an invariable submission to their de- 
crees. Whoever seeks for the cause of this pe- 
culiar unanimity will find it in the judicious, uni- 
form, and systematic management of these elec- 
tions ; — an unanimity pervading every act, when 
all the world, influenced by the warning lessons 
of history, was expecting discord and dissolution. 
It existed the first moment that all power was 
acknowledged to have reverted to its original pos- 
sessors, the People. It remained till the perma- 
nent form of government was consummated in the 
Republic. Set this fundamental and energizing 
principle aside, derange or lessen its enlightened 
and free action, and ours should soon fall into 
the fate of all other republics — perishing under 
the corruption of the few or the licentiousness 
of the many.^ 

The Continental Congress had been in session 

^ Sparks' Life of Gouvei'tietir Morris, vol. i, pp. 31-33. The 
argument of Daniel Webster is a most masterly exposition of the 
philosophy of this essential principle of political jurisprudence. It 
will be found in Webster^ s Works, vol. 6, pp. 215-242. 



314 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

at Philadelphia twelve days, when, on the 2 2d 
May, 1775, the new political power, entitled The 
Provincial Congress, assembled in the city of New 
York, and assumed the functions of legislation. 
Of the eighty-one delegates appointed seventy 
members appeared. 

Among these was he whose youth, military 
genius, noble and beautiful character, high office, 
and early heroic death, have crystallized his name 
into one of those historic examples which fame 
enshrines for emulation. Richard Montgomery 
was an Irishman. He had been an officer of ap- 
proved merit in the British army. He was at this 
time recently married ; had settled in Dutchess 
County, in all the comfort and hopes of domestic 
happiness, with a purpose to lead the life of a 
quiet country gentleman. He was present as the 
member from that his adopted county. 

Gouverneur Morris, then in his twenty-third 
year of age, came first into public duty on this 
occasion as the delegate from Westchester, his 
native county ; and began that remarkable ca- 
reer, so full of accurate statesmanship, intellectual 
grace, social distinction, political elevation, brill- 
iant audacity, and libidinous delight.^ Tall and 

1 The late Duke de Morny, uterine brother of Napoleon III., 
it is stated on admissible testimony, was a natural descendant of 
Morris. Madame de Flahaut, afterwards the Baroness de Souza, 
early in this century, so well known in Europe, and whose corre- 
spondence with Morris forms a conspicuous and interesting epi- 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 315 

handsome in person, of most aristocratic bearing, 
accomplished and of easy eloquence, the son of 
Lewis Morris, of Morrisania, was a notable and 
influential member. His accession to the resist- 
ant colonists was justly valued as a most convinc- 
ing proof that a powerful opposition was abating 
its hostility and inclining to the support of the 
Congressional movement.^ In truth a tide of en- 

sode in his memoirs by Jared Sparks, was the mother of the 
Count de Flahaut, some time Ambassador at the Court of St. 
James. M. de Flahaut was the son of Gouverneur Morris, and 
the father of De Morny : a name adopted by De Morny for social 
and political reasons : at the instance of his mother, the Queen 
Hortense. The former Count de Morny lent himself to the 
scheme. Madame de Souza educated her grandson while they were 
at Malmaison. The writer's authority for this statement is the 
Hon. William Beach Lawrence, the editor of Wheaton's work on 
International Law, and who represented the United States of 
America in high diplomatic service for so many years at Courts in 
Europe. Mr.T^awrence's chief informant was Madame de Galla- 
tin, widow of his intimate friend the distinguished Albert Gallatin, 
Secretary of the Treasury under the administration of JeiTerson. 

^ His paternal grandfather was Chief Justice of the Province 
of New York, and later in life, Governor of New Jersey. His 
father was no less eminent, and both were in their time popular 
leaders of the Assembly and of the people against the arbitrary 
abuse of power and exactions of money by the Governors. The 
early stand which Gouverneur and his step-brother Lewis took 
against the revolt of the Colonies arose from their violent preju- 
dices against New England ; and the appearance of Gouveneur as 
a delegate at that moment was an assurance that the merits of the 
case for the colonists had overborne not only their antipathy but 
that of others of the party to which they belonged, and who had a 
like inimical disposition. Gouverneur Morris was a looker-on at 
the meeting held under the auspices of Sears, M'Dougal, Lamb, 



3l6 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

lightened opinion was arising, which none could 
allay nor stem, and which soon was to overwhelm 
all those who dared oppose its course. 

and other Sons of Liberty, at the Coffee House, on May 19, 1774. 
The day after he wrote the following letter, so valuable as evidence 
showing how repugnant to his powerful coterie were the motives 
and objects which they supposed to inspire all New England. The 
letter was written to Richard Penn : — 

"You have heard, and you will hear, a great deal about politics, 
and in the heap of chaff you may find some grains of good sense. 
Believe me, sir, freedom and religion are only watch-words. We 
have appointed a Committee, or rather we have nominated one. 

Let me give you the history of it The troubles in America 

during Grenville's administration put our gentry upon this finesse. 
They stimulated some daring coxcombs to rouse the mob into an 
attack upon the bounds of order and decency. These fellows be- 
came the Jack Cades of the day, the leaders in all riots, the bell- 
wethers of the flock. The reason of the maneuver in those, who 
wished to keep fair with government, and at the same time to re- 
ceive the incense of popular applause, you will readily perceive. 
On the whole, the shepherds were not much to blame in a politic 
point of view. The bell-wethers jingled merrily, and roared out 
liberty, and property, and religion, and a multitude of cant terms, 
which every one thought he understood, and was egregiously mis- 
taken. For you must know the shepherds kept the dictionary of 
the day, and like the mysteries of the ancient mythology, it was not 
for profane eyes or ears. This answered many purposes ; the 
simple flock put themselves entirely under the protection of these 
most excellent shepherds. By and by behold a great metamor- 
phosis without the help of Ovid or his divinities, but entirely ef- 
fectuated by two modern genii, the god of ambition and the god- 
dess of faction. The first of these prompted the shei^herds to 
shear some of their flock, and then, in conjunction with the other, 
converted the bell-wethers into shepherds. That we have been in 
hot water with the British Parliament ever since, everybody knows. 
Consequently these new shepherds had their hands full of employ- 
ment. The old ones kept themselves least in sight, and a want of 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 317 

The Provincial Congress gave speedily recog- 
nition [May 15] to the power of the General Con- 
gress in session at Philadelphia, as a body author- 
confidence in each other was not the least evil which followed. 
The port of Boston has been shut up. These sheep, simple as 
they are, cannot be gulled as heretofore. In short, there is no 
ruling them ; and now, to leave the metaphor, the heads of the 
mobility grow dangerous to the gentry, and how to keep them 
down is the question. While they correspond with the other colo- 
nies, call and dismiss popular assemblies, make resolves to bind 
the consciences of the rest of mankind, bully poor printers, and 
exert with full force all their other tribunitial powers, it is impos- 
sible to curb them. But art sometimes goes farther than force, and 
therefore to trick them handsomely, a committee of patricians was 
to be nominated, and into their hands was to be committed the 
majesty of the people, and the highest trust was to be reposed in 
them by a mandate, that they should take care, qtiod respublica 
non capiat injuriani. The tribunes, through want of a good leger- 
dermain in the senatorial order, perceived the finesse, and yester- 
day I was present at a grand division of the city, and there I be- 
held my fellow-citizens very accurately counting all their chickens, 
not only before any of them were hatched, but before above one 
half the eggs were laid. In short, they fairly contended about the 
future forms of our government, whether it should be founded upon 
Aristocratic or Democratic principles. ' I stood in the balcony, 
and on my right hand were ranged all the people of property, with 
some few poor dependants, and on the other all the tradesmen, etc., 
who thought it worth their while to leave daily labor for the good of 
the country. The spirit of the English Constitution has a httle in- 
fluence left, and but a little The mob begin to think and to 

reason The gentry begin to fear this. Their committee 

will be appointed, they will deceive the people, and again forfeit 
a share of their confidence. And if these instances of what with 
one side is policy, with the other perfidy, shall continue to in- 
crease, and become more frequent, farewell aristocracy. I see, 
and I see it with fear and trembling, that if the disputes with 
Britain continue, we shall be under the worst of all possible domin- 



3l8 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

ized to act for and on behalf of all the Colonies. 
Intelligence was brought that reenforcements from 
England were on the way, under the command of 

ions. We shall be under the domination of a riotous mob. It is 
the interest of all men, therefore, to seek for reunion with the 

parent state " — Sparks' Life of Gouverneur Morris, vol. i, 

pp. 23-25. 

The foregoing letter expresses a phase of opinion in which 
many took part. Gouverneur Morris was educated in a social and 
political atmosphere where nothing of New England origin could 
exist. His case was not peculiar ; only an instance of a large 
class in New York and in other provinces among the well-to-do 
and " the gentry." A clause in the will of Lewis Morris, the 
Chief Justice, is an instance, showing the intensity of this feeling: 
" It is my wish that my son Gouverneur shall have the best educa- 
tion that can be furnished in England or America, but my express 
will and direction are, that under no circumstances shall he be 
sent to the colony of Connecticut for that purpose, lest in his youth 
he should imbibe that low craft and cunning so incident to the peo- 
ple of that country, and which are so interwoven in their constitu- 
tion that they cannot conceal it from the world, though many of 
them, under the sanctified garb of religion, have attempted to im- 
pose themselves upon the world as honest men." The will is re- 
corded in Liber 23, p. 426, in the office of the Surrogate of New 
York, and its date of probate is November 19, 1760. 

During the session of the Continental Congress sitting at this 
time [1775] in Philadelphia, an incident occurred, while the mission 
of Penn to England was under debate, which forcibly illustrates 
the strength and prevalence of this antipathy throughout the mid- 
dle colonies. The story is told by John Adams himself : " When 
the party had prepared the members of Congress for their purpose, 
and indeed had made no small impression on three of my own col- 
leagues, Mr. Dickinson made, or procured to be made, a motion 

for a second petition to the King I was opposed to it, of 

course Mr. Dickinson began to tremble for his cause. I 

was called out, .... very much to my regret, to some one who 
had business with me. Mr. Dickinson observed me, and darted 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 319 

Generals Howe, Burgoyne, and Clinton. Part of 
these troops being expected to land at New York, 
a request was sent to the General Congress for 
advice how the inhabitants should conduct them- 
selves. They were answered, with the approving 
concurrence of their representative Jay and his 
colleagues, not to oppose the landing of such 
troops ; to suffer them to erect fortifications ; to 
act on the defensive simply ; and to repel force by 
force only when that became necessary to protect 
inhabitants and their property. But the desti- 
nation of those troops was Boston ; they arrived 
there on the 25th of May, and the name of Bun- 
ker Hill was the next month added to those of 
Lexington and Concord. 

Thus the first important decision of the Gen- 
eral Congress related to New York. On Sunday, 
June 25, Washington, on his way to take com- 

out after me. He broke out upon me in a most abrupt and ex- 
traordinary manner; in as violent a passion as he was capable of 
feeling, and with an air, countenance, and gestures as rough and 
haughty as if I had been a school-boy and he the master. He 
vociferated, ' What is the reason, Mr. Adams, that you New Eng- 
land men oppose our measures of conciliation ? There now is 
Sullivan, in a long harangue, following you in a determined oppo- 
sition to our petition to the King. Look ye ! If you don't concur 
with us in our pacific system, I and a number of us will break from 
you in New England, and we will carry on the opposition in our 
own way.' I was, as it happened, at that moment in a very happy 
temper, and answered him very coolly." — Works of John Adams, 
vol. 2, pp. 409, 410. See also Life of Josiah Quincy, Jr., pp. 164- 
170. 



320 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

mand of the army, arrived at New York. Gen- 
eral Richard Montgomery and Gouverneur Mor- 
ris were of the Committee which received him 
on behalf the Provincial Congress. Tryon, the 
royal governor, had arrived the day before, and 
was to land from the harbor ; but night had fallen 
before he came ashore. His reception convinced 
him that a sudden change in sentiments and 
measures had taken place. Surprised and humil- 
iated, he assumed an air of passive sufferance, and 
indulged himself in bland professions. Washing- 
ton perceived his insincerity, had no doubt con- 
cerning the propriety of seizing him, directed 
General Schuyler to keep a watch on his conduct, 
and wrote a warning to Congress.^ 

It was the next day but one that the plan for 
conciliation with England was proposed, which was 
sent to Congress, and cooperated so opportunely 
with the purpose to send Richard Penn to Eng- 
land as the bearer of a last petition.^ 

Gouverneur Morris was a member of the Com- 
mittee on defensive military preparation. The 
subject which more than any other occupied their 
attention was the currency — a paper currency ; 

^ Bancroft's History of the United States, vol. 7, p. 358 ; and 
vol. 8, pp. 32, 32; Life of John Jay, vol. r, pp. 32, 33. 

2 Ante, pp. 280, 281 ; and see Sparks' Life of Gouverneur Mor- 
ris, vol. I, pp. 46-48, where the plan is very completely set forth in 
detail and scope. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 32 1 

their only money-sinew of war. A day was an- 
nounced when Mr. Morris should be heard on it. 
The House was to be opened to strangers, and 
the merchants and others specially interested in- 
vited to attend, and hear the debate. Mr. Morris' 
speech was looked upon as a remarkable instance 
of eloquence and argument. He advanced and 
maintained opinions then new to all. They were 
ultimately esteemed and generally acknowledged 
to be just ; and have since become familiar. A 
deep sense of the importance of his argument, 
and great confidence in his own powers,^ con- 
spired to quicken his energies, and enabled him 
to find his way to the sympathies of his hearers 
and captivate their understanding.^ Had the fame 
subsequently gained by Hamilton as Secretary 
of the Treasury not overshadowed all others, the 
reputation of Morris as a financier would be re- 
spected as second only to that of Robert Morris. 
About this time a memorable topic engaged 
the attention of the Provinces of New York and 
of New England. It was fraught with conse- 
quents far beyond the ken of human vision. The 
project known as the Quebec Act, introduced 
into the House of Commons the previous year,^ 

^ He said of himself, that he was never conscious of fear nor 
inferiority. 

2 Sparks' Life of Gouverneur Morris, vol. i, p. 39. 
8 May 2, 1774. 

21 



322 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

aroused, as it was malignantly designed to do, ani- 
mosities between those Provinces and the French 
inhabitants of Canada.^ Its object was strictly a 
war measure on the part of the Ministry. When 
England acquired Canada by the peace of 1 763 
from France, that, bringing Canada under the 
English dominion, relieved the New England 
Colonies from the active hostilities of a people 
with whom those Colonies were ever at enmity 
— aliens, as the New England Colonists would 
have said, in blood and religion. The burning 
sources of this unquenchable antipathy were to 
be found away back, even before the times when 
the Englishry and the French contended for con- 
quest and supremacy, upon the banks of the St. 
Lawrence, along the shores of the great lakes, 
and through the valleys of the Ohio. The pas- 
sage of the Quebec Bill revived in the breast of 
Catholic, Huguenot, and Puritan animosities which 
hovered, as harpy followers, about struggles and 
epithets which belonged to dark scenes in Euro- 
pean history. The Quebec scheme was one of 
subtle and refined mischief. The " Prince " of 
the misunderstood Machiavelli images no design 
more instinct with the cunning of vitiated human 
intellect. To bring those jealousies and fears into 
the service of the Ministry was the practical ob- 

1 Ajite, pp. 185, 186. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 323 

ject hid in the guise of the Quebec Act. Besides, 
its policy would increase to a restoration of " the 
check," inevitably resulting from the presence of 
the hereditary enemy along the borders of New 
York and New England ; compensate for the er- 
ror of 1763;^ and still retain Canada in an alle- 
giance to the English Crown. 

The Continental Congress of 1774 ardently 
wished to arrest such an unnatural and mutually 
destructive antagonism. Therefore its address to 
the inhabitants of the Province of Quebec.^ The 
debates^ in the House of Commons and in the 
House of Lords revealed the character of the bill 
as a warlike measure. " It is necessary," it was 
avowed, " to conciliate the affections of the Ca- 
nadians, and thereby induce them to assist the 
administration to coerce America." Men join in 
hate who never join in love. When the Conti- 
nental Congress reassembled in May, 1775, again 
was sent forth an address soliciting the friend- 

^ Speaking of this event to Lord Stormont, M. de Vergennes 
observed : " I was at Constantinople when the last peace was made. 
I told several of my friends there that I was persuaded England 
would not be long before she had reason to repent of having re- 
moved the only check that would keep her Colonies in awe ; my 
prediction has been but too well verified." — Lord Stormont to 
Lord Rochford, October 3, 1775, quoted in Adolphus' History of 
England., vol. 2, p. 134. See atite, p. 194. 

^ October 26, 1774. — Joicrnal of the Proceedings of Congress, 
pp. 118-131. 

3 May 2 to June 22, 1775. 



324 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

ship of the Canadians, urging them to assert their 
rights, and admonishing them against hostilities. 
Nothing came to America herself from these pro- 
pitiating offers of friendship. But the Quebec 
Act bore an engrafted fruit. Therein to-day we 
see " how Catholic emancipation began : " for the 
trouble with the thirteen Colonies led the Minis- 
try to the " first step in the emancipation of Cath- 
olics : and, with no higher object in view than to 
strengthen the authority of the King in America, 
the Quebec Act of 1774 began that series of con- 
cessions which did not cease till the British Par- 
liament itself, and the high offices of administra- 
tion," were accessible to them.^ 

1 Bancroft's History of the United States, vol. 7, pp. 153-160. 

It is curious to reflect that the Duke of Wellington, the man 
who was destined thirty-six years later to be mainly instrumental 
in the emancipation of the Roman Catholics, made his first speech 
in the Irish Parliament in 1793, when he was yet Captain Arthur 
Wellesley, and a member of that body, in favor of such a measure 
of relief. — Madden's Historical Notice of Penal Laws against 
Roman Catholics, pp. 22, 52. The following is the substance re- 
ported of this interesting historical beginning of the public political 
career of " the Iron Duke ; " and is worth preserving for its own 
value. "The Hon. Mr. Wellesley said: In regard to what has 
been recommended in the speech from the throne, respecting our 
Catholic fellow-subjects, he could not repress expressing his ap- 
probation on that head ; he had no doubt of the loyalty of the Cath- 
olics of this country ; and he trusted that when the question would 
be brought forward respecting that description of men that we 
would lay aside animosities, and act with moderation and dignity, 
and not with the fury and violence of partisans." — Debates in the 
Parliament of Ireland (T)\xh\m, 1793), pp- 17, 18,274. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 325 

Hamilton, as the public were led to expect,^ 
published on June 15, 1775, — two days before 
the conflict on Bunker Hill, — his " Remarks 
on the Quebec Bill." Those remarks were brief 
and sufficient, — a full exposition of the entire 
subject. They examined into the terms of the 
act ; exhibited its character, by which the laws 
and government of the Province of Quebec, in 
its vastly enlarged domain, was placed under the 
sole direction of the King ; conferred on him per- 
sonally extraordinary and dangerous prerogatives ; 
establishing an arbitrary government unknown 
to England, even in the days of William Rufus, 
Henry H., or the Stuarts, and intolerable to the 
principles of the English Constitution. By its 
provisions, also, the Roman Catholic hierarchy 
in Canada were invited to become an established 
Church, under the protection and supervision 
of the Protestant Crown of England.^ And an 
almost boundless extent of country was added 
to Canada, uniting into its one province the en- 
tire country northwest of the Ohio, to the head of 
Lake Superior and the Mississippi, and consoli- 
dating in the hands of the executive all authority 

^ " In compliance with my promise to the public, and in order to 
rescue truth from the specious disguise with which it has been 
clothed, I shall now offer a few remarks on the Act," etc. — 
Works of Hamilton, vol. 2, p. 127. 

2 Adolphus' History of England, vol. 2, pp. 94-101 ; History 
of the United States, vol. i, p. 98. 



326 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

over this wide expanse of territory. The follow- 
ing extracts from the " Remarks " show to us 
some specimens of the fitness of language and 
force of thought which so early marked the writ- 
ings of this youth, then in the nineteenth year 
of his age : 

" However justifiable this Act may be, in relation to the 
Province of Quebec, with its ancient limits, it cannot be de- 
fended by the least possible pretext when it is considered as 
annexing such a boundless extent of new territory to the old. 

" If a free form of government had ' been found by experi- 
ence to be inapplicable to the state and circumstances of the 
Province ; ' and if ' a toleration less generous, although it 
might have fulfilled the letter of the articles of the treaty, 
would not have answered the expectations of the Canadians, 
nor have left upon their minds favorable impressions of Brit- 
ish justice and honor ; ' if these reasons be admitted as true, 
and allowed their greatest weight, they only prove that it 
might be just and politic to place the Province of Quebec 
alone, with its former boundaries, in the circumstances of 
civil and religious government which are established by this 
Act. But when it is demanded, why it has also added the 
immense tract of country that surrounds all these* colonies 
to that Province, and has placed the whole under the same 
exceptional institutions, both civil and religious? — the ad- 
vocates for administration must be confounded and silent. 

" This Act develops the dark designs of the Ministry more 
fully than anything they have done ; and shows that they 
have formed a systematic project of absolute power. 

" The present policy is evidently this. By giving a legal 
sanction to the accustomed dues of the priests, it was in- 
tended to interest them in behalf of the administration ; and 
by means of the dominion they possessed over the minds of 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 327 

the laity, together with the appearance of good-will towards 
their religion, to prevent any dissatisfaction which might 
arise from the loss of their civil rights ; and to propitiate 
them to the great purposes in contemplation : first, the sub- 
jugation of the Colonies ; and afterwards, that of Great Brit- 
ain itself.-^ It was necessary to throw out some lure to recon- 
cile them to the exactions of that power which has been 
communicated to the King, and which the emergency of the 
times may require in a very extensive degree. The fu- 
ture policy of it demands particular attention Hence, 

while our ears are stunned with the dismal sounds of New 
England's republicanism, bigotry, and intolerance, it be- 
hooves us to be upon our guard against the deceitful wiles 
of those who would persuade us that we have nothing to 
fear from the operation of the Quebec Act. We should 
consider it as being replete with danger to ourselves, and as 
threatening ruin to our posterity." ^ 

Concerning the intended effect of the Act upon 
the civic governance, polity, and judicial organi- 
zation of the extended territory of the Province, 
Hamilton observes : — 

" While Canada was under the dominion of France, the 
French laws and customs were in force there ; which are 
regulated in conformity to the genius and complexion of a 
despotic constitution, and expose the lives' and properties 
of subjects to continual depredations from the malice and 
avarice of those in authority. But when it fell under the 
dominion of Great Britain, these laws, so unfriendly to the 

1 Ante^ p. 51. The following year [1776] the Rev. John Carroll, 
subsequently the first Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Church 
in the United States, went on behalf of the Colonies as member 
of a commission to Canada. 

2 Works of Hamilton, vol. 2, pp. 136-138. 



328 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

happiness of society, gave place, of course, to the milder in- 
fluence of the English laws ; and his Majesty, by proclama- 
tion, promised to all those who should settle there a full 
enjoyment of the rights of British subjects. In violation of 
this promise, the Act before us declares, ' That the said proc- 
lamation, and the commission under the authority whereof 
the government of the said Province is at present adminis- 
tered, be, and the same are, hereby revoked, annulled, and 
made void, from and after the first day of May, one thou- 
sand seven hundred and seventy-five,' This abolition of the 
privileges stipulated by the proclamation was not inflicted as 
a penalty for any crime by which a forfeiture had been in- 
curred ; but merely on pretense of the present form of gov- 
ernment having been found by experience to be inapplicable 
to the state and circumstances of the Province. 

"I have never heard any satisfactory account concerning 
the foundation of this pretense ; for it does not appear that 
the people of Canada, at large, ever expressed a discontent 
with their new establishment, or solicited a restoration of 
their old. They were, doubtless, the most proper judges of 
the matter, and ought to have been fully consulted before 
the alteration was made. If we may credit the general cur- 
rent of intelligence which we have had respecting the dis- 
position of the Canadians, we must conclude they are averse 
to the present regulation of the Parliament, and had rather 
continue under the form of government instituted by the 
royal proclamation. However this be, the French laws are 
again revived." ^ 

After reciting the several enactments, he 
adds : — 

" If this does not make the King absolute in Canada, I am 
at a loss for any tolerable idea of absolute authority ; which 

^ Works of Hamilton, vol. 2, pp. 127, 128. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 329 

I have ever thought to consist, with respect to a monarch, in 
the power of governing his people according to the dictates 

of his own will There must be an end of all liberty 

where the prince is possessed of such an exorbitant prerog- 
ative as enables him, at pleasure, to establish the most iniqui- 
tous, cruel, and oppressive courts of criminal, civil, and eccle- 
siastical jurisdiction ; and to appoint temporary judges and 
officers, whom he can displace and change as often as he 
pleases. For what can more nearly concern the safety and 
happiness of subjects than the wise economy and equitable 
constitution of those courts in which trials for life, liberty, 
property, and religion are to be conducted ? . . . . Since the 
whole legislative, executive, and judiciary powers are ulti- 
mately and efifectually, though not immediately, lodged in the 
King ; there can be room to doubt that an arbitrary govern- 
ment has been really instituted throughout the extensive re- 
gion now comprised in the Province of Quebec." ^ 

Hamilton kept his pen busy during the whole 
of the year 1775. The subjects which engaged 
him were important, various, and urgent. Lead- 
ing men looked to him as particularly well qual- 
ified for this work. John Jay, while absent at- 
tending the Continental Congress that year at 
Philadelphia, wrote, December 5, to Alexander 
M'Dougall : " I hope Mr. Hamilton continues 
busy : I have not received Holt's paper these 
three months ; and, therefore, cannot judge of the 
progress he makes." ^ 

But his two pamphlets in answer to the " West- 

1 Works of Hainilton^ vol. 2, pp. 128-131. 

^ Hamilton's History of the Republic, vol. i, p. 63. 



330 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

Chester Farmer " — for usefulness and fame — 
transcended all his other publications during that 
year. Their strength of argument and directness 
of purpose, the knowledge they disclosed of the 
material resources and political circumstances of 
the country in its internal relations, the just con- 
ception of the merits of the controversy between 
the Colonies and England, and the sober certainty 
with which he pointed out wherein lay at least 
one peculiar and abundant culture, rich in the 
promise of national wealth — these were the qual- 
ities that imparted an immediate interest to the 
publications, and a value permanent beyond the 
occasion of their origin. The argument made by 
Hamilton directed attention chiefly to the reasons 
whereon the right and prudence of resistance were 
founded, — proved that the resistance offered by 
the colonists to the ministerial measures was jus- 
tified by the principles of the Constitution of 
England, — gave an exposition of existing, and 
presented suggestions as to probable, physical re- 
sources of the country contributing plenteously 
to its material for wealth, — and contended that 
the Congress itself had, by the character of the 
men who composed it, the number and dignity of 
their constituents, and the important ends for 
which they were appointed, manifested a unity of 
interest, convictions, and purpose, which ought to 
persuade all reasonable people that faction had no 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 331 

part in a movement so prudent, decorous, and 
universal. 

Hamilton presents the issue in these words : — 

" What is the subject of our controversy with the mother 
country ? It is this : Whether we shall preserve that security 
to our lives and properties which the law of nature, the genius 
of the British Constitution, and our charters, afford us ; or 
whether we shall resign them into the hands of the British 
House of Commons, which is no more privileged to dispose 
of them than the Great Mogul ? What can actuate those 
men who labor to delude any of us into an opinion that the 
object of contention between the parent state and the Colo- 
nies is only threepence duty upon tea ? or that the commo- 
tions in America originate in a plan, formed by some turbu- 
lent men, to erect it into a republican government ? The 
Parliament claims a right to tax us in all cases whatsoever ; 
its late acts are in virtue of that claim. How ridiculous, 
then, is it to affirm, that we are quarreling for the trifling 
sum of threepence a pound on tea, when it is evidently the 
principle against which we contend ! The design of electing 
members to represent us in general Congress was, that the 
wisdom of America might be collected in devising the most 
proper and expedient means to repel this atrocious invasion 
of our rights. It has been accordingly done. Their decrees 
are binding upon all, and demand a. religious observance." ^ 

Having stated the precise issue, Hamilton then 
insists that the system of aggression fabricated 
against America cannot, any longer, be consid- 
ered as the effect of inconsideration and rash- 
ness : — 

" It is the offspring of mature deliberation. It has been 
1 Works of Hamilton, vol. 2, p. 4. 



2>Z^ LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

fostered by time, and strengthened by every artifice human 
subtlety is capable of. After the claims of Parliament had 
lain dormant for awhile, they are again resumed and prose- 
cuted with more than common ardor. The Premier has ad- 
vanced too far to recede with safety. He is deeply interested 
to execute his purpose, if possible. We know he has declared 
that he will never desist till he has brought America to his 
feet ; and we may conclude nothing but necessity will induce 
him to abandon his aims. In common life, to retract an 
error, even in the beginning, is no easy task ; perseverance 
confirms us in it, and rivets the difficulty. But in a public 
station, to have been in an error, and to have persisted in it 
when it is detected, ruins both reputation and fortune. To 
this we may add, that disappointment and opposition inflame 
the minds of men, and attach them still more to their mis- 
takes. What can we represent which has not already been 
represented ? What petitions can we offer that have not 
already been offered ? The rights of America, and the in- 
justice of parliamentary pretensions, have been clearly and 
repeatedly stated, both in and out of Parliament. No new 

arguments can be framed to operate in our favor The 

exigency of the times requires vigorous and probable reme- 
dies ; not weak and improbable." ^ 

After vindicating the justice and policy of the 
measures which Congress proposed, he, in several 
passages, suggests principles of a protective sys- 
tem for home industries : — 

" Were I to argue in a philosophical manner, I might say, 
the obligation to a mutual intercourse, in the way of trade, 
with the inhabitants of Great Britain, Ireland, and the West 
Indies, is of the imperfect kind. There is no law, either of 
nature or of the civil society in which we live, that obliges us 

1 Works of Ha7nilto)i, vol. i, pp. 6, 7. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 333 

to purchase and make use of the products and manufactures 
of a different land or people. It is indeed a dictate of hu- 
manity to contribute to the support and happiness of our 
fellow-creatures, and more especially those who are allied to 
us by the ties of blood, interest, and mutual protection ; but 
humanity does not require us to sacrifice our own security 
and welfare to the convenience or advantage of others. Self- 
preservation is the first principle of our nature We 

can live without trade of any kind. Food and clothing we 
have within ourselves. Our climate produces cotton, wool, 
flax, and hemp ; which, with proper cultivation, would fur- 
nish us with summer apparel in abundance. The article of 
cotton, indeed, would do more ; it would contribute to defend 
us from the inclemency of winter. We have sheep, which, 
with due care in improving and increasing them, would soon 
yield a sufficiency of wool. The large quantity of skins we 
have among us, would never let us want a warm and com- 
fortable suit. It would be no unbecoming employment for 
our daughters to provide silks of their own country. The 
silk-worm answers as well here as in any part of the world. 
Those hands which may be deprived of business by the ces- 
sation of commerce, may be occupied in various kinds of 
manufactures and other internal improvements. If, by the 
necessity of the thing, manufactures should once be estab- 
lished .... among us, they will pave the way still more to 
the future grandeur and glory of America ; and, by lessening 
its need of external commerce, will render it still securer 
against encroachments." . . . . " With respect to cotton, you 
do not pretend to deny that a sufficient quantity of that 
might be produced. Several of the Southern Colonies are 
so favorable to it that, with due cultivation, in a couple of 
years, they would afford enough to clothe the whole Conti- 
nent."^ 

1 Works of Hamilton, vol. 2, pp, 7, 12, 13, 113, 



334 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

These, surely, are deep and sober thoughts to 
have come from the brain of one so young. Read 
at this present time, when we are surrounded by 
the evidences of American material progress, in 
the plenitude and perfection of agricultural and 
mechanical productions, — when every region of 
the earth, acknowledging their worth and abun- 
dance, looks day by day to the harvests of our 
fields, the treasures of our mines, the skilled en- 
terprise of our artisans, to replenish their own 
deficiencies : we must be persuaded that the wis- 
dom of Hamilton was not only beyond his years, 
but at least equal to that of the ablest, oldest, and 
foremost public men of that period. 

In the second pamphlet he takes a survey of 
the political history of the Colonies so as to cast 
a full light upon the merits of the contest.^ In 
exactness, fullness, and pertinency, as a practical 
exposition of this part of the case, it is even more 
satisfactory than the similar history of the Colo- 
nies which Edmund Burke gives in his famous 
speeches on American Taxation and Conciliation 
with America. It is in this answer to the "West- 
chester Farmer" that Hamilton pays a special 
attention to the doctrine of " parliamentary su- 
premacy." A few extracts will be enough to 
show the spirit and scope with which it is treated 
by him : — 

1 Works of Hamilton, vol. 2, p. 65. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 335 

" The House of Commons receives all its authority from 
its electors, in consequence of the right they have to a share 
in the legislature. Its electors are freeholders, citizens, and 
others, in Great Britain. It follows, therefore, that all its au- 
thority is confined to Great Britain. This is demonstrative. 
Sophistry, by an artful play of ambiguous terms, may perplex 
and obscure it ; but reason can never confute it. The power 
which one society bestows upon any man, or body of men, 
can never extend beyond its own limits. The people of 
Great Britain may confer an authority over themselves, but 
they can never confer any over the people of America, be- 
cause it is impossible for them to give that to another which 
they never possessed themselves. Now, I should be glad to 
see an attempt to prove that a freeholder, citizen, or any 
other man in Great Britain, has any inherent right to the life, 
property, or liberty, of a freeholder, citizen, or any other man 
in America. He can have no original and intrinsic right, 
because nature has distributed an equality of rights to every 
man. He can have no secondary or derivative right, because 
the only thing which could give him that is wanting — the 
consent of the natural proprietor. .... When I say that the 
authority of Parliament is confined to Great Britain, I speak 
of it in its primitive and original state. Parliament may ac- 
quire an incidental influence over others, but this must be by 
their own free consent ; for without this, any power it might 
exercise would be mere usurpation, and by no means a just 
authority. The best way of determining disputes, and of in- 
vestigating truth, is by descending to elementary principles. 
.... Let me remark, that I have leveled my battery chiefly 
against the authority of the House of Commons over Amer- 
ica ; because, if that be proved not to exist, the dispute is at 
an end." ^ 

In the following sentences we get his earliest 

^ Works of Hamilton, vol. 2, pp. 52, 53. 



ZZ^ LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

expression of the feasibility of a number of indi- 
vidual bodies politic being united under one com- 
mon head, where the several members, though 
each independent in its own allotted sphere, may 
" form but one State." It was an idea germinat- 
ing from the ancient nature and recurring neces- 
sities of the Colonies ; and one which persuasively 
grew, and remained in the permanent formation 
of the final union between the independent States 
of America. The " Farmer " had said that, — 

" In every government there must be a supreme, absolute 
authority lodged somewhere. In arbitrary governments, this 
power is in the monarch ; in aristocratical governments, in 
the nobles ; in democratical, in the people, or the deputies of 
their electing. Our own government, being a mixture of all 
these kinds, the supreme authority is vested in the King, 
nobles, and people ; namely, the King, House of Lords, and 
House of Commons elected by the people. The supreme 
authority extends as far as the British dominions extend. To 
suppose a part of the British dominions which is not subject 
to the power of the British legislature, is no better sense than 
to suppose a country, at one and the same time, to be, and 
not to be, a part of the British dominions. If, therefore, the 
colony of New York is a part of the British dominions, the 
colony of New York is subject to, and dependent on, the 
supreme legislative authority of Great Britain." 

To this proposition Hamilton, quoting the en- 
tire sentence, replied : — 

" This argument is the most specious of any the advocates 
for parliamentary supremacy are able to produce ; but when 
we come to anatomize, and closely examine every part of it, 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 'i^l'] 

we shall discover that it is entirely composed of distorted 
and misapplied principles, together with ambiguous and equiv- 
ocal terms. 

"The first branch is, that 'in every government there must 
be a supreme absolute authority lodged somewhere.' This 
position, when properly explained, is evidently just. In every 
civil society there must be a supreme power, to which all 
the members of that society are subject ; for otherwise there 
could be no supremacy, or subordination ; that is, no gov- 
ernment at all. But no use can be made of this principle 
beyond matter of fact. To infer from thence, that unless a 
supreme absolute authority be vested in one part of an em- 
pire over all the other parts, there can be no government in 
the whole, is false and absurd. Each branch may enjoy a 
distinct, complete legislature, and still good government may 
be preserved everywhere. It is in vain to assert that two or 
more distinct legislatures cannot exist in the same State. If, 
by the same State, he meant the same individual community, 
it is true. Thus, for instance, there cannot be two supreme 
legislatures in Great Britain, nor two in New York. But if, 
by the same State, he understood a number of individual 
societies, or bodies politic, united under one common head, 
then I maintain, that there may be one distinct, complete 
legislature in each. Thus there may be one in Great Britain, 
another in Ireland, and another in New York \ and still these 
several parts may form but one State. In order to do this, 
there must indeed be some connecting, pervading principle ; 
but this is found in the person and prerogative of the King. 
He it is that conjoins all these individual societies into one 
great body politic. He it is that is to preserve their mutual 
connection and dependence, and make them all cooperate to 
one common end, the general good. His power is equal to 
the purpose j and his interest binds him to the due prosecu- 
tion of it. 

" Those who aver that the independency of America on the 



33^ LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

British Parliament implies two sovereign authorities in the 
same State deceive themselves, or wish to deceive others, in 
two ways : by confounding the idea of the same State with 
that of the same individual society ; and by losing sight of 
that share which the King has in the sovereignty, both of 
Great Britain and America. Perhaps, indeed, it may with 
propriety be said, that the King is the only sovereign of the 
empire. The part which the people have in the legislature 
may more justly be considered as a limitation of the sover- 
eign authority to prevent its being exercised in an oppressive 
and despotic manner. Monarchy is universally allowed to 
predominate in the Constitution. In this view, there is not 
the least absurdity in the supposition that Americans have a 
right to a limitation similar to that of the people of Great 
Britain, At any rate, there can never be said to be two sover- 
eign powers in the same State, while one common King is ac- 
knowledged by every member of it. 

" Let us, for a moment, imagine the legislature of New 
York independent of that of Great Britain. Where would 
be the mighty inconvenience ? How would government be 
frustrated, or obstructed, by this means ? In what manner 
would they interfere with each other? In none, that I can 
perceive. The affairs of government might be conducted 
with the greatest harmony, and, by the mediation of the King, 
directed to the same end. He (as I before observed) will be 
the great connecting principle. The several parts of the em- 
pire, though othenvise independent of each other, will all be 
dependent on him. He must guide the vast and complicated 
machine of government to the reciprocal advantage of all his 
dominions. There is not the least contradiction in this ; no 
imperium in imperio, as is maintained : for the power of each 
distinct branch will be limited to itself ; and the authority of 
his Majesty over the whole will, like a central force, attract 
them all to the same point. 

" The second part of your paragraph is this : ' In arbitrary 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 339 

governments, this (supreme, absolute) power is in the mon- 
arch ; in aristocratical governments, in the nobles ; in demo- 
cratical, in the people, or the deputies of their electing. Our 
own government being a mixture of all these kinds, the 
supreme authority is vested in the King, nobles, and people ; 
that is, in the King, House of Lords, and House of Com- 
mons elected by the people.' 

" You are mistaken when you confine arbitrary govern- 
ment to a monarchy. It is not the supreme power being 
placed in one instead of many, that discriminates an arbi- 
trary from a free government. When any people are ruled 
by laws in framing which they have no part, that are to bind 
them, to all intents and purposes, without, in the same man- 
ner, binding the legislators themselves, they are, in the strict- 
est sense, slaves ; and the government, with respect to them, 
is despotic. Great Britain is itself a free country ; but it is 
only so because its inhabitants have a share in the legisla- 
ture. If they were once divested of that they would cease 
to be free. So that, if its jurisdiction be extended over 
other countries that have no actual share in its legislature, 
it becomes arbitrary to them ; because they are destitute of 
those checks and controls which constitute that moral secu- 
rity which is the very essence of civil liberty. 

" I will go further and assert that the authority of the Brit- 
ish Parliament over America would, in all probability, be a 
more intolerable and excessive species of despotism than an 
absolute monarchy. The power of an absolute prince is not 
temporary but perpetual. He is under no temptation to pur- 
chase the favor of one part of his dominions at the expense 
of another ; but it is his interest to treat them all upon the 
same footing. Very different is the case with regard to the 
Parliament. The Lords and Commons, both, have a private 
and separate interest to pursue. They must be wonderfully 
disinterested if they would not make us bear a very dispro- 
portional part of the public burthens, to avoid them as much 



340 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

as possible themselves. The people of Britain must, in real- 
ity^ be an order of superior beings, not cast in the same mould 
with the common, degenerate race of mortals, if the sacrifice 
of our interest and ease to theirs be not extremely welcome 
and alluring. But should experience teach us that they are 
only mere mortals, fonder of themselves than their neighbors ; 
the philanthropy and integrity of their representatives will be 
of a transcendent and matchless nature, should they not grat- 
ify the natural propensities of their constituents in order to 
ingratiate themselves and enhance their popularity." ^ 

It will be remarked in this passage how dis- 
tinctly he puts it that it is legislative freedom 
from the Parliament, and not a separation from 
the Crown, which, as a defensive measure, was 
growing to be desirable. 

Of himself, personally, he speaks in several 
parts of these publications in reply to the " West- 
chester Farmer " : — 

" ' Artifice, sophistry, misrepresentation, and abuse ; ' these 
you call ' my weapons, and these I wield like an old, experi- 
enced practitioner.' .... Throughout your letter, you seem 
to consider me as a person who has acted, and is still acting, 
.some part in the formation and execution of public measures. 
You tacitly represent me as a delegate, or member of the 
Committee. Whether this be done with a design to create 
a suspicion of my sincerity, or whether it be really your opin- 
ion, I know not. Perhaps it is from a complex motive. But 
I can assure you, if you are in earnest, that you are entirely 
mistaken. I have taken no other part in the affair than 
that of defending the proceedings of the Congress, in con- 
versation and by the pamphlet I lately published. I ap- 

1 Works of Hamilton, vol. 2, pp. 54-57- 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 34 1 

prove of them, and think an undeviating compliance with 
them essential to the preservation of American freedom. I 
shall, therefore, strenuously exert myself to that valuable 
end."i .... 

" Whatever opinion may be entertained of my sentiments 
and intentions, I attest that Being whose all-seeing eye pen- 
etrates the inmost recesses of the heart, that I am not influ- 
enced (in the part I take) by any unworthy motive. — That 
if I am in an error, it is my judgment, not my heart, that 
errs. — That I earnestly lament the unnatural quarrel between 
the parent State and the Colonies, and most ardently wish 
for a speedy reconciliation — a perpetual and mutually bene- 
ficial union, — That I am a warm advocate for limited mon- 
archy, and an unfeigned well-wisher to the present Royal 
Family." ^ 

These pamphlets also evince an important 
significance whenever we treat of Hamilton as 
a founder of the American States in Empire. 
They are remarkable certainly as testimony to 
his early intellectual maturity. But they are of 
greater value historically, being of the substance 
of his mental development, when we consider 
that in them are to be seen conceptions which 
grew into fruitful acts of consummate achieve- 
ment and enduring statesmanship. 

1 Works of Hamilton, vol. 2, pp. 40, 41. 

2 Works of Hamilton, vol. 2, p. 125. 



CHAPTER VIII. 
THE LIFE AND EPOCH, 

[1775-1776.] 

^TAT. 18-19. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

[1775-1776.] 

The encircling horizon, growing dark with the 
gathering clouds of war, cast shadows upon the 
land. Above the ruins of Charlestown glittered 
the white tents of the entrenched British encamp- 
ment on the heights of Bunker Hill. From the 
west end of Dorchester to Maiden, a space of 
nine miles, lay, at irregular distances, in a semi- 
circle, the raw material which, under the orderly 
and irresistible energy of Washington, was form- 
ing the American Army. In Georgia and the 
Carolinas the warm blood of the Celtic colonists '^ 

^ " Many of the inhabitants of North Western Scotland .... 
listened to overtures from those who had obtained concessions of 
vast domains, and migrated to Middle Carolina ; tearing themselves, 
with bitterest grief, from kindred whose sorrow at parting admitted 
no consolation. Those who went first reported favorably of the 
clear, sunny clime, where every man might have land of his own ; 
the distance and the voyage lost their terrors ; and from the isles 
of Rasay and Skye whole neighborhoods formed parties for re- 
moval, sweetening their exile by carrying with them their costume 
and opinions, their old Celtic language and songs. Distinguished 
above them all was Allen Macdonald of Kingsborough, and his 
wife Flora Macdonald, the same who in the summer of 1746 .... 
had rescued Prince Charles Edward from his pursuers, with a 



346 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

was quickened by the news from Lexington, Con- 
cord, and Boston ; actions of a warlike character 
were undertaken by them ; and it was known that 
General Gage had advised from Boston that the 
Indians should be incited to take up arms when- 
ever opportunity offered against those colonists : 
" no terms were to be kept with them now." The 
riflemen of Virginia had repulsed an attack of 
what already began to be called " the enemy ; " 
killing some and wounding many ; and Lord 
Dunmore, the Governor of Virginia, had raised 
the King's standard, declared martial law, re- 
quired those capable of bearing arms to gather 
around the standard, and promised freedom to 
"all indented servants, negroes, or others, apper- 
taining to rebels," who would aid in "reducing 
the colony to a proper sense of its duty." 

The Province of New York was exposed to a 

self-possession, fertility of resources, courage, and fidelity, that 
are never mentioned but to her honor. Compelled by poverty, 
they had removed to North America in 1774, and made their new 
home in the west of Cumberland county. She was now about 
fifty-five, mother of many children, of middle stature, soft features, 
uncommonly mild and gentle manners, and elegant presence." — 
Bancroft's History of the United States, vol. 7, pp. 93, 94. Dr. 
Johnson, during his journey to the Hebrides, in 1773, visited Flora 
and her husband ; and Boswell (see his Life of Johnson, vol. 4, 
pp. 203, 208, 288, 329) relates the incidents, with full descrip- 
tions of the persons and manners of the heroine and her husband, 
and says that they were "going to try their fortune in America." 
They returned to Skye, where she died on the 4th of March, 
1790. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 347 

peculiar jeopardy. Sir Guy Carleton, the British 
general and the Governor of Canada, determined 
to retake Ticonderoga, which had been unwar- 
rantably captured by Ethan Allen and his follow- 
ers the previous May.^ The Continental Congress 
had not approved that unauthorized exploit of 
Allen, and, in explicit terms, disavowed any inten- 
tion of invading Canada. Still, Carleton, as the 
Governor of Canada, proclaimed the borderers 
on the American side of the territorial line trai- 
tors ; summoned the old French peasantry of his 
Province to arms ; and encouraged the Indian 
tribes, converted and savage, to take up the 
hatchet against the inhabitants of New England 
and New York. Peril, with unusually destructive 
and uncivilized capability, was imminent. The 
Continental Congress could no longer adhere to 
its policy restraining the invasion of Canada. So 
the expediency of taking possession of the Prov- 
ince of Quebec was, at last, sanctioned, as a means 
necessary to guard on the frontiers against Indian 
incursions, and, besides, to display at once the 
spirit and strength of the confederated colonies. 
Such an expedition was ordered. Philip Schuyler 
was appointed by the Provincial Congress of New 
York, Major-general, and Richard Montgomery, 
Brigadier-general, to command and organize it. 
Those appointments were confirmed by the Con- 

1 Ante, p. 280. 



348 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

tinental Congress ; and thus, by the union of gen- 
eral and local powers, there was imparted an un- 
questionable authority to the movement, and a 
recognition in this further instance was given to 
the reciprocal and common relations of the Con- 
tinental and Provincial governments. The sole 
command, however, before any serviceable ad- 
vance was achieved, fell, owing to the continued 
severe illness of Schuyler, into the hands of 
Montgomery ; and he, without delay, conducted 
the brilliant and memorable campaign, which, 
achieving victory after victory, received a sudden, 
final, and disastrous end by the death of its heroic 
leader on the night of December 31, 1775. He 
was killed in the first step of an assault which he 
headed, ascending the narrow defile now called 
the Pres-de-Ville, on the acclivity of the heights 
of Quebec. A few days before the assault he, 
accompanied only by his associate in arms, Mac- 
pherson, went out on the Plains of Abraham, and 
there, on the very spot where Wolfe had fallen, 
bitterly thought of the recent time when England 
and America stood there, in mutual, well-beseem- 
ing ranks, victors over the traditional common 
foe : now joined with England in purchased al- 
liance against those Colonies, which France had 
failed to conquer, when those Colonies were the 
bulwark of England's empire on the Continent of 
America. A presentiment of death — not unus- 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 349 

ual at such moments to susceptible minds ^ — ele- 
vated the sad spirit of his thought. The actual 
circumstances of Montgomery's situation admit- 
ted no delay; and the capture of Quebec must 
be attempted, despite the hazard, with a coup de 
main. His rapid conquests had filled the world 
with his praise, and gave assurance of greater suc- 
cess ; the Colonies believed that nothing was im- 
probable to his cool courage, ardent temper, cir- 
cumspect conduct, and good fortune. After the 
fighting around the heights and on the battle- 
ments of the fortress had ceased, the body of 
Montgomery and that of his faithful Macpherson 
were found lying near each other, enwrapped in 
the winding sheet of the freshly fallen snow. 
The public authorities of Quebec and the gener- 
ous enemy, even the officers in chief command of 
the garrison, paid the tributes of respect due to a 
worthy foe, and saw the bodies of Montgomery 
and Macpherson committed to the earth with the 
honors of a soldier's sepulchre.^ The voice of 
friend and enemy, in exceptless admiration, ad- 

^ The memorable incident that Wolfe recited aloud as he floated 
in the batteau down the St. Lawrence, and made more significant, 
the following stanza of " Gray's Elegy," will recur to the reader : — 
" The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power, 
And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave, 
Await alike the inevitable hour ; 

The paths of glory lead but to the grave." 

^ Bancroft's History of the United States^ vol. 8, pp. 205-212. 



350 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

mitted the purity of Montgomery's patriotic sacri- 
fice ; and the glow of pride, not the blush of 
shame, suffused the cheek of his young widow 
when the name of her Montgomery was spoken.^ 
The effect of his death upon the imagination of 
his country exceeded that which emanated from 
the heroism of Wolfe ; and many sought, and 
some found, the fame which all coveted. 

In compliance with the recommendation of the 
Continental Congress four regiments had been 
raised by the Province of New York. Governor 
Tryon had returned to the city, and was attempt- 
ing to regain control. The war-vessel Asia, in 
which he had come back to New York, lay in the 
harbor between Staten and Bedloe Islands. An 
occasion for hostilities in fact, in the city, soon 
occurred. Already in the course of the month of 
June, 1775, the city showed evidences of military 
preparations for defensive purposes. The rumor, 
during the time hurriedly spread among the in- 
habitants, that the troops, then ascertained to be 
on the way, were intended to reenforce the army 
at New York, acting with the recommenda- 
tion which came from the Continental Congress, 
aroused a defiant tendency among the people 
and, to an observable degree, among those higher 

^ " You will never have cause to blush for your Montgomery," 
were the last words which he spoke to his wife when they took 
leave of each other at Saratoga : to which place she had accom- 
panied him on his way towards Canada. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 351 

classes, who had stood aloof. General Wooster, 
who commanded some of the Connecticut troops 
stationed at Greenwich, near New York, marched, 
at the request of the Provincial Congress of New 
York and by direction of that of Connecticut, the 
main body of those troops towards the city, and 
encamped at Harlaem, then a village within five 
miles, so as to be in readiness to repel the ex- 
pected invasion. Then followed the further rec- 
ommendation by the Continental Congress that 
the Province raise additional regiments for the 
general defense. 

The return of Governor Tryon, in the midst of 
these proceedings, and his nominal resumption of 
authority, presented, at once, the spectacle of two 
incongruous and jarring governments. His spe- 
cious manner and want of candor made him more 
suspected. A collision between the Congres- 
sional authority and that of the royal governor 
was not to be avoided. It soon arose from the 
following adventure. Upon the place known as 
the Battery, at the confluence of the Hudson and 
East rivers, and fronting the harbor where the 
Asia rode at anchor, were twenty-one iron eight- 
een pounders and some smaller cannon, mounted. 
These all belonged to the Province. The Pro- 
vincial Congress directed that these should be re- 
moved and taken to another place. The ultimate 
object was to use them in the fortification of 



352 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

posts in the highlands of the Hudson river. John 
Lamb/ who had been appointed to the command 
of a company of artillery, was ordered to direct 
this to be done. On the evening of the 23d of 
August, Lamb, assisted by an independent corps 
under Colonel Lasher and a body of townspeople 
led by Isaac Sears, went to the battery to take 
away the cannon. A number of the students of 
King's College were conspicuous among those 
who accompanied the command of Colonel Lasher. 
Commander Vandeput, of the Asia, who had 
learned of the purpose, sent a large boat with 
armed men from the vessel, to watch the Battery 
and defeat any such attempt. While some of 
those who came with Lasher and Sears were in- 
side the fortification dismounting the cannon, a 
musket was fired from the barge of the Asia, 
which was secreted near the shore. Lamb and 
his company, who remained outside the fort, in- 
stantly fired upon the barge, and one or more of 
its crew were killed and several wounded. The 
barge was immediately rowed back, and, when it 
reached the Asia, that vessel opened fire, sending 
three shot in quick succession into the city. 
Lamb ordered the drums to beat to arms, and 
the church bells to be rung. In the midst of the 
tumult and terror a broadside of grape and round 
shot was sent from the Asia. Urged by fears that 

^ Life of John La7nb, pp. io8, 109. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 353 

the city would be destroyed and sacked through 
the frenzy of the belligerents, hundreds of men, 
women, and children hurriedly went beyond the 
limits of the town, taking with them such prop- 
erty as they were able to transport. But in the 
face of all this turmoil and danger, and the prob- 
ability of more serious accountability, the respon- 
sible leaders were calm and resolute ; and, by 
the people and those to whom the project was 
specially committed, the order of the Provincial 
Congress was entirely fulfilled. The students 
were boldly active. Fifteen of them, including 
Hamilton, were engaged in the affair; and, from 
the cannon removed, they were permitted, it 
seems, to retain two of the smaller kind ; which, 
with inverted muzzles, they erected in the ground, 
one on each side of the main entrance to the 
close of the college, in spite of President Cooper's 
remonstrance. Those two cannon, fronting Park 
Place, were familiar objects down to the time 
when the College was removed in 1857. A re- 
criminatory correspondence followed between the 
captain of the Asia and the Provincial repre- 
sentatives. He would vindicate his conduct on 
the ground that it was his duty to protect the 
property of the King. The authorities answered 
that the armament at the Battery belonged to 
the Province and not to the King. The anger of 
the populace was so high, at what they deemed 
23 



354 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

an outrage, that they subsequently seized two 
boats whicn had ventured ashore from the Asia, 
and destroyed them. The Provincial Congress 
resumed its propitiatory policy : again with the 
usual bad results of servile and weak conduct in 
revolutionary crises. One of those boats the Con- 
gress had ordered to be rebuilt, but before it was 
finished it was secretly sawed in two by persons 
who could not be discovered. Yet with the mob 
the collegians had no sympathy. When a number 
of the excited populace went, at this time, to the 
President's residence in the college-close to seize 
him, Hamilton and Troup confronted them, and 
Hamilton, from the steps of the porch, spoke to 
them, and admonished them on " the impropriety 
of their conduct, and the disgrace they were bring- 
ing on the cause of liberty of which they pro- 
fessed to be the champions."^ While the crowd 
were held by Hamilton's address. President Coop- 
er escaped by the rear of the building to the river 
bank, and there went on board the Asia. And, 
also, it is told, that on another occasion, the 
" Travis mob " w^as turned from their purpose, 
about the same time, in a similar way, when they 
were threatening the life of a Mr. Thurman, a 

^ Troup related the incident to Pickering, and he is cited in Ham- 
ilton's History of the Republic, vol. i, p. loo, as authority for the 
story. Troup says, that at first Dr. Cooper supposed that Ham- 
ilton was inciting the turbulent concourse, and, from an upper win- 
dow, cried out, " Don't listen to him, gentlemen : he is crazy." 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 355 

merchant, whose conduct as one of the Committee 
of Safety had displeased them.^ 

The Provincial Congress continued in session 
at New York till September, when it adjourned 
for a month. That body, like the Continental 
Congress, still hoped that the mission of Richard 
Penn would bring an accommodation to pass, and 
that peace would soon bless their persistent ef- 
forts. The Continental Congress, in like assur- 
ance of hope, had adjourned one month before 
[August i] for five weeks; and the country was 
left at this moment without a representative of its 
general cause and unity but Washington and the 
army under his command. The Provincial Con- 
gress of New York, however, unlike the Conti- 
nental Congress, did not so confidently and wholly 
abandon or suspend its guardian care over public 
interest. It appointed a Committee of Safety, 
made up of its own members, and committed to 
them the convenient and necessary management 
of affairs affecting the public good, during the 
time of the adjournment. This was, indeed, its 
customary course on temporary cessation of legis- 
lative action. 

While this committee were in session in Octo- 
ber, 1775, the Mayor of New York City came to 
their room and gave information that Governor 
Tryon had sent for him the previous day; that 

^ Hamilton's History of the Republic, vol. i, p. 100. 



356 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

the Governor said a letter was received from Lord 
Dartmouth notifying him that orders were given 
to the commanders of the King's ships in Ameri- 
ca that, in case any more troops were raised, or 
fortifications put up, or the King's stores taken, 
the places in which these things were perpetrated 
must be considered in a state of rebellion. This 
communication produced alarm. The Asia, with 
its threatening ports open, lay opposite the town. 
It was ever an object of dread since the night 
when it sent a broadside in amidst friend and foe 
alike. A fear that the city would yet be fired by 
it was entertained by many. A single act of decis- 
ion by those who assumed authority on behalf of 
the People dispelled such fears. The Provincial 
Congress, notwithstanding the affair of the even- 
ing of August 23, yet allowed the Asia to receive 
provisions from the city. This was thought in- 
consistent with dignity and prudence ; the irrita- 
tion of citizens was much increased by it, and 
strong language was openly spoken by reason of 
it against that body. In truth, the Committee 
of Safety was the trusted and controlling influ- 
ence which moved and moderated public action. 
Washington, the army, and those who held re- 
sponsible relations to all the Colonies, were indig- 
nant at the seemingly forsaken state in which 
the adjournment of Congress had placed them. 
Hence this indulgence granted and continued 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 357 

to the Asia was regretted by him and them. But 
now the Continental Congress had reassembled 
and was in session at Philadelphia. Its patience 
was exhausted ; its petitions to King and Parlia- 
ment rejected. Richard Penn's mission had failed. 
The King would receive neither the petition nor 
its bearer. The King and the Ministry were 
" determined to listen to nothing from the illegal 
Congress; to treat with the Colonies only one by 
one, and in no event to recognize them in any 
form of association." ^ Penn was examined be- 
fore the House of Commons. The King made 
his decision without 'hesitation, and the die was 
cast when the famous proclamation for suppress- 
ing rebellion and sedition was issued on August 
23, 1775. The result of the Penn mission was 
not fully known in America till November.^ On 
the evening of the same day when that proclama- 
tion had been issued it was that the Asia fired on 

^ Adolphus' History of Englattd, vol. 2, pp. 256-259. 

2 When Mrs. Adams read this proclamation she wrote to John 
Adams, her husband, then at the Congress in Philadelphia, a letter 
containing the following characteristic sentence: "This intelli- 
gence will make a plain path for you, though a dangerous one ; I 
could not join to-day in the petitions of our worthy pastor for a 
reconciliation between our no longer parent state but tyrant state, 
and these colonies. Let us separate ; they are unworthy to be our 
brethren. Let us renounce them ; and, instead of supplications, as 
formerly, for their prosperity and happiness, let us beseech the 
Almighty to blast their counsels, and bring to nought all their 
devices." 



358 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

New York. Emissaries of the Ministry were in- 
dustrious in their mischievous vocations. Tryon, 
with fair words and full of guile, was an object 
suspected, watched, and disliked by the leaders 
and the populace. The Continental Congress on 
October 6, had recommended the several Pro- 
vincial Assemblies and Committees of Safety to 
secure every person inimical to the cause. Tryon 
was sensible that affairs were already beyond his 
management, and his liberty in danger. The 
Mayor and others promised him protection. But 
his own instinct was too true, and on October 19, 
he took refuge on board tl^ British sloop of war 
Halifax, which lay in the harbor. From thence 
he vainly played a sort of civil authority over a 
Province once the King's, aided by a few erratic 
members of his council. ^ 

The students of the King's College had kept 
up during the year their discussions concerning 
the public interests in issue. None in New York 
spoke, it is probable very few even thought before 
early in 1776, of separation from England. The 
debating club of the students was, undoubtedly, 
the arena of many earnest addresses during these 
days from Hamilton, Marinus Willetts, Nicholas 
Fish,^ Robert Troup, John William Livingston, 

1 Sparks' Life of Gouverneur Morris, vol. i, p. 94. 

2 The Hon. Hamilton Fish speaks of these debates, in some 
reminiscences of his father, Hamilton, Troup, and others, published 
in the New York Tribune of January 25, 1879, P- 2- 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 359 

and others. They did not confine themselves en- 
tirely to the art of wordy deliberation. Some of 
them were preparing themselves, under experi- 
enced teachers, in the acquisition of a knowledge 
of the art of war. Whether there was an organi- 
zation for military exercises before the beginning 
of 1776, to which those collegians belonged, or 
whether such an organization was formed when 
the death of Montgomery became known, is not 
clear. Either inference might be made. It is, 
perhaps, more likely that they joined in such a 
body after that event had stirred their blood in 
common with that of the whole country. The 
fact that they wore in their caps that sentence to 
which the coup de main at Quebec had given an 
additional popular sentiment, indicates with some 
certainty the later time. 

Hamilton during the year 1775 made an ad- 
dress, which began his remarkable relations with 
the mercantile classes. Those relations gave 
through his whole life a peculiar character to 
his labors as lawyer and statesman. He was, ever 
afterwards, the special exponent of commercial 
polity; the fabricator of commercial and indus- 
trial protection; the originator of a system of 
finance competent to the commercial and other 
needs and conveniences of the country; the un- 
rivaled jurist whose opinions on constitutional 
law and the lex mercatoria had the force of au- 



360 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

thority. Late in the autumn of the previous 
year^ the Westchester Farmer issued "An Ad- 
dress to the Merchants of New York." The 
pamphlet was widely and gratuitously circulated. 
Its effect upon the minds of that class was injuri- 
ous to the colonial cause. In the spring of 1775,^ 
a meeting was called by the merchants at the Cof- 
fee House, to consider their own state and their 
duty towards the public weal. Hamilton went to 
the meeting. He was familiar with the argu- 
ments enunciated in the Farmer's Address, and 
with those current in the mercantile sphere. 
Others of wisdom and eloquence had spoken be- 
fore his opportunity came. It was an assembly 
different in its composition from that which had 
met the year before "in the fields." Capital is 
sensitive and cautious ; and the mercantile com- 
munity had all they possessed involved in the 
prosperity of trade. It became them to be cautious 
how they should enter, if at all, the impending 
struggle. Hamilton knew and felt the delicacy 
of his task. His writings at this stage of affairs 
show it. He was a stranger to those he was 
about to address. But what he had to say was 
thoroughly prepared in manner and matter, as 
was his custom. When Hamilton, with his boy- 
ish, fair, delicate features, and slight diminutive 

1 November 28, 1774. 

2 See Rivingloti's Gazette, 1775. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 36 1 

figure, presented himself, without introduction, 
and stood on a chair so as to be raised above the 
auditors, a smile passed over their faces. He 
hesitated, and delayed to begin. " Poor boy," said 
one, " who brought him here. He will disgrace 
himself." Soon the words came slowly and de- 
liberately. The attention of all present was fixed. 
The speeches of that day are not preserved. But 
the substance of that delivered by Hamilton was 
a clear, comprehensive, masterly exposition, which 
brouHit conviction to those who heard him.^ 
His knowledge, acquired at the counting-room 
in St. Croix, taught him how such a class of men 
should be spoken to ; and his profound acquaint- 
ance with the political principles called into the 
discussion enabled him to engage their sympa- 
thetic adherence to the Congressional party. 

The second Provincial Congress of New York 
assembled, and began proceedings, on December 
2, 1775. No other legislative body was to suc- 
ceed it in the name of the Province. Events 
were soon to evolve a new and permanent form 
of representative government, which was to take 
the place of this Congress. 

1 Edward Lawrence, a well-known merchant, was present on 
the occasion. He frequently related the anecdote. It is to his 
nephew, Richard Lawrence Schieffelin, Esq., of New York City, 
that the writer is indebted for a description, which Mr. Schieffe- 
lin often heard his uncle repeat, more circumstantial and vivid than 
that brought down to us in the fading colors of popular tradition. 



362 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

Washington saw during this month indications 
about Boston which made him infer that prepara- 
tions were on hand in the British army there, to 
send off an important expedition. He conjec- 
tured that its true point was Hkely to be New 
York. In this view General Charles Lee, by 
direction of Washington, left the American camp, 
then before Boston, on January 11, 1776, on his 
way to New York, to take command and consol- 
idate the troops organized and organizing in 
Connecticut, to call on the troops in New Jersey 
to join them, and to put that city in a defensible 
state so as to successfully resist Howe's expedi- 
tion should it appear there and attempt to land. 
Lee had special orders to disarm the disaffected 
in the vicinity, and to look to the fortification of 
the North River.-^ 

When the information reached New York that 
Lee was coming there — and by the authority and 
power of the Commander-in-chief and the army at 
Cambridge, and that Congress itself was begin- 
ning to exercise a superior authority which it 
deemed necessary to the " general " defense, — a 
panic started scarcely less intense than if the 
Asia had again opened fire. The Committee of 
Safety wrote to Lee so as to reach him before he 
came nearer the city. They said: — 

" The inhabitants of this city are much alarmed at various 
^ Sparks' Life and Writings of Washington, vol. 3, pp. 273, 274. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 363 

confident advices of your destination, with a considerable 
body of forces for active service here. Confident, however, 
as those advices may appear to people without doors, we can- 
not readily credit them, as we conceive it most probable, that 
were you preparing to execute any plan of that kind, it would 
be preceded by some intimations to us on the subject from the 
Continental Congress, General Washington, or yourself. We 
therefore should not have troubled you with this application 
had it not been to procure such information from you as may 
enable us, in a prudent use of it, to allay the fears of our in- 
habitants, who, at this inclement season of the year, will con- 
tinue, as they have already begun, to remove their women and 
children, and which, if continued, may occasion hundreds to 
perish for want of shelter." ^ 

This was subscribed by Peter V. B. Livingston, 
Chairman of the Committee. Lee, without de- 
lay, from Stamford, Connecticut, on the 23d of 
January, answered : — 

" With respect. Sir, to the alarms of the inhabitants, on the 
suspicion that my business was to commence active hostili- 
ties against the men-of-war in your harbor, I can assure you 

that they may be perfectly easy The motive of the 

General for detaching me was, solely to prevejit the enemy 
from taking post in your city, or lodging themselves in Long 
Island, which we have the greatest reason to think. Sir, is 
their design. Some subordinate purposes were likewise to be 
executed, which are much more proper to communicate by 
word of mouth, than by writing ; but I give you my word that 
no active service is proposed, as you seem to apprehend. If 
the ships of war are quiet, I shall be quiet ; but I declare 
solemnly, that if they make a pretext of my presence to fire 
on the town, the first house set in flames by their guns shall 

^ Sparks' Life of Gouverneitr Morris, vol. i, p. 76. 



364 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

be the funeral pile of some of their best friends In 

compliance, Sir, with your request, I only shall carry with me 
into town a force just strong enough to secure it against any 
designs of the enemy, until it shall please the Continental 
Congress to take measures for its permanent security. The 
main body I shall leave on the western frontiers of Connecti- 
cut, according to your directions, I hope. Sir, and persuade 
myself that the Committee and inhabitants can have no ob- 
jection to this plan. If Mr. Tryon, and the captains of the 
ships of war, are to prescribe what numbers are, and what 
numbers are not, to enter the town, they are absolute dictators 
to all intents and purposes. The condition is too humiliating 
to put up with." ^ 

And, at the same place and time, Lee wrote to 
Washington : — 

"I find the people through this Province [Connecticut] 
more alert, and more zealous, than my most sanguine expec- 
tations. I believe I might have collected ten thousand vol- 
unteers. I take only four regiments with me En- 
closed I send you my letter to the General Congress, and 
that of the Provincial Congress of New York to me, with my 

answer The Whigs, I mean the stout ones, are, it is 

said, very desirous that a body of troops should march and be 
stationed in their city \ the timid ones are averse, merely 
from the spirit of procrastination, which is the characteristic 
of timidity. The letter of the Provincial Congress, you will 
observe, breathes the very essence of this spirit. It is woe- 
fully hysterical." ^ 

•The delegates from New York, then in attend- 
ance at the Continental Congress in Philadelphia, 
when made aware of Lee's mission, and that he 

^ Sparks' Life of Gouverneur Morris^ vol. i, pp. "Ji, 78. 
- Ibid., pp. 78, 79. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON, 365 

was actually on his way to undertake its fulfill- 
ment, sent a committee, selected from their own 
number, to New York, to pacify the people and 
arrange a plan for united action. The committee 
arrived there on January 30, five days before Lee 
himself. Although the day after their arrival an 
advance from Lee's army appeared and took up 
its position in the town, the committee were able 
to improve the time to much advantage. Lee, 
when he came, found that affairs had been al- 
ready accommodated to his convenience ; for it 
was agreed that, by the credentials of the Conti- 
nental Congress, all the troops in New York 
could be properly placed under this committee 
till Lee personally took the immediate command. 
Thus by the confidence reposed in the commit- 
tee, and their own prudence, dangerous perplexi- 
ties were reconciled. Lee, reporting the improved 
aspect of affairs relating to his position, wrote to 
Washington : — 

" I consider it as a piece of the greatest good fortune that 
Congress have detached a committee to this place, otherwise 
I should have made a most ridiculous figure, besides bring- 
ing on myself the enmity of the whole Province. My hands 
were effectually tied up, from taking any steps necessary for 
the public service, by the late resolve of the Congress put- 
ting every detachment of the Continental troops under the 
command of the Provincial Congress, where such detachment 
is."^ 

^ Sparks' Life of Gouverneiir Morris, vol. i. p. 80. 



366 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

The appearance of the British General Clinton, 
almost at the same moment with Lee, gave more 
reason to believe that the expedition fitting out 
at Boston was intended for New York. He 
brought no troops with him ; he pledged his 
honor that none were to come ; and, with profes- 
sions, none the less designed to deceive because 
circumstantially true, freely told citizens that his 
own direction was North Carolina, where he ex- 
pected to meet five regiments directly from Eng- 
land, and was bringing two regiments from Bos- 
ton for a campaign against the colonists of that 
Province, who had already declared their inde- 
pendence of and separation from England.^ Lee 
was not misled — a campaign in the South was 
not incompatible with a descent of the expedition 
upon New York, and so he did not delay in ex- 
ecuting plans for military defensive operations. 
Lee was now in united and concordant council 
with the Committee of Safety. He expressed 
satisfaction at the spirit manifested by the Com- 
mittee and the people when he wrote to Wash- 
ington, that — 

" The result will surprise you. It is, in the first place, 
agreed, and justly, that to fortify the town against shipping is 
impracticable; but we are to fortify lodgments, in some 
commanding part of the city, for two thousand men. We are 

1 At Mecklenberg, North Carolina, May 31, 1775. See a most 
circumstantial account of this earliest declaration of independence 
in Lossing's Field-book of the Revolution, vol. 2, pp. 11 2-1 16. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 367 

to erect enclosed batteries on both sides of the water near 
Hell Gate, which will answer the double purpose of securing 
the town against piracies through the Sound and secure our 
communication with Long Island, now become a more capi- 
tal point than ever, as it is determined to form a strong forti- 
fied camp of three thousand men in that Island, immediately 
opposite to New York. The pass in the Highlands is to be 
made as respectable as possible and guarded by a battalion." 

The people and their immediate tribunes were 
no longer timid nor procrastinating, and " began 

to despise menaces To do them justice," 

writes Lee, " the whole show a wonderful alac- 
rity ; and in removing the cannon, men and boys 
of all ages worked with the greatest zeal and 
pleasure. I really believe that the generality are 
as well affected as any on the Continent." 

But the Congress at Philadelphia was wholly 
absorbed in more general matters ; or an apathy, 
spreading from a renewed hope that acceptable 
proposals for conciliation would be brought by 
Lord Howe from England, delayed its action. 
The committee had returned to Philadelphia. 
Before they left they had agreed with Lee that a 
force of five thousand men were necessary for the 
sure protection of New York. Since their de- 
parture, nothing came of it. The Continental 
Congress was not taking the least step for the 
security of that city. The Province was forsaken 
to its own strength and ability. In truth the 
whole contest at this time was entirely in the 



368 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

hands of Washington, the army, and the Provin- 
cial congresses, or, in New York, rather the 
Committee of Safety. Lee was discouraged by 
this apathetic want of energy, or apparent de- 
cHne of zeal, in the public bodies. Washington, 
while he and his army were at this moment 
closely watching the movements of the enemy in 
Boston, felt that he was likewise abandoned to his 
own resources. 

The Provincial Congress had, however, ordered 
into New York city fifteen hundred men. A 
number equal to two battalions were arriving 
from Pennsylvania and the Jerseys. Lord Stir- 
lings regiment was already within the precincts 
of the city. The cannon which remained on the 
discarded batteries and on the wharves were, at 
mid-day, taken away to safer places ; and the guns 
of the Asia were silent, though Tryon and the 
captains of the war-vessels had threatened. 

In the midst of these preparations Lee, some- 
what annoyed by a proceeding of the Provincial 
Congress, and, perhaps, at last dispirited by the 
trammels to which the genuine public spirit in 
New York was subjected, announced, on March 
6, he would resign the command that very night, 
and that Lord Stirling was ordered to relieve him.^ 
Stirling took the command. Lee, at first intended 
for the resumed campaign against Canada, was 

^ Sparks' Life of Couvemeiir Morris, vol. i, p. 88. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 369 

sent to the Carolinas to watch the movements of 
CHnton. While Lee was turning over his au- 
thority an event of great moment was preparing 
at Boston, which changed the theatre of warfare 
to New York. 

The evacuation of Boston, though considered 
for some time, was hastily determined. Wash- 
ington had gained and strengthened positions 
on heights which commanded the town. The re- 
membrances of Bunker Hill chilled the ardor for 
any other attempt to dislodge by assault the 
Americans ; and Sir William Howe, who had con- 
vened a second council of war on the crisis, or- 
dered an instant retirement of the English forces. 
The retreat from the besieged town was quick if 
not precipitate. The army, numbering about eight 
thousand, and with them more than eleven hun- 
dred refugees, began embarkation at four o'clock 
in the morning, and in less than six hours all 
were on one hundred and twenty transports. 
Howe himself was among the last to leave the 
town. Before ten o'clock the vessels were under 
way, and from hills and house-tops, and every 
wharf, the citizens of Boston witnessed the fleet 
sail in a lengthened line from out the harbor. 
Washington beheld the scene from Dorchester 
Heights. On March 17, the place was clear of 
the enemy ; and several regiments, under the com- 
mand of General Putnam, immediately entered 
24 



370 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

Boston and took possession of all the posts. The 
day afterwards, Washington himself went into 
the town, and was welcomed with the greatest en- 
thusiasm and gratitude by the inhabitants. A 
salutary success was won with little loss ; the 
"particular Province" resumed its right of self- 
government, and peace again visited the fields 
and hearths of the earliest scenes of the strife. 

The Commander-in-chief, though the fleet was 
reported to have sailed for Halifax, ordered Gen- 
eral Heath with five of the best regiments, the 
battalion of riflemen, and two companies of ar- 
tillery, to New York. Anxious for the safety of 
that city, and its retention in the colonial inter- 
est as a point of military advantage, Washington 
called upon Connecticut for two thousand militia, 
and upon New Jersey for one thousand, to be sent 
to aid in opposing the landing of the enemy un- 
til the Continental troops sent by him could ar- 
rive. It was soon known that Howe had, for a 
season, and for the purpose of more adequate 
preparation, really gone with his expedition to 
Halifax, and the apprehension of impending dan- 
ger passed. Washington entered the City of New 
York on the 1 3th of April, and assumed the chief 
command. 

The illusion about invading Canada revived in 
the counsels of the Continental Congress, and, now 
that it was certain Howe's expedition was towards 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 37 1 

another point or indefinitely delayed, the Conti- 
nental regiments at first sent to New York, were 
then ordered to strengthen the campaign against 
Canada. Washington, who had been on a visit 
for consultation to the Congress at Philadelphia, 
saw that the main dependence was to be again 
upon the militia in case of another emergency; 
and, persuaded that Howe's ultimate point for at- 
tack was New York, he lost no time in making 
preparations to repel an invasion.^ Intelligence 
came that the expedition, augmented at Halifax, 
might soon be expected to approach. Sir William 
Howe arrived on June 25, 1776, off Sandy Hook, 
near the entrance to the lower bay of New York, 
— three days afterwards he was joined by the 
British fleet and forces direct from Halifax. An 
immediate attack was thought probable ; but 
Howe, having established his headquarters at 
Staten Island, remained inactive for two months, 
though a fleet from England, under the command 
of Lord Howe, united with him about the middle 
of July. Howe was awaiting further reenforce- 
ments before he would venture upon the new 
campaign. New York was now the central point. 
She became the care of the moment, and Wash- 
ington was once more the anxious hope of Amer- 
ica. He was using the time, afforded by Howe's 

^ Sparks' Life and Writings of Washington, vol. i, pp. 176, 
177. 



1^2 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

delay at Staten Island, to strengthen the works 
at New York. A fort was begun at the north 
part of Manhattan Island, upon a hill near the 
east bank of the Hudson river, which was named 
Fort Washington ; and on the west bank of the 
river, nearly opposite, in New Jersey, another, 
now known as Fort Lee. Between these fortifi- 
cations the river's channel was obstructed. Bat- 
teries were erected on the margins of the Hudson 
and East rivers, redoubts were thrown up at sev- 
eral other places, the ground near Kingsbridge, 
on the Harlem river, fortified, and the whole of 
Manhattan Island put in a state for defense. The 
Provincial Congress of New York invested Wash- 
ington with a sort of dictatorial authority over 
the military power of the Colony, and to order the 
troops to be marched as he should think proper 
"for defense," anywhere within the territorial lim- 
its of the Province; and, also, delegated to him 
power to restrain of their liberty any disaffected 
persons whom he thought dangerous to the se- 
curity of the public weal. Having entrusted this 
extraordinary authority and power to Washing- 
ton, the Provincial Congress had little to do 
within the actual circumstances of affairs, but to 
second his views and aid in executing his orders, 
during the warfare in the Province of New York. 
That body then, on June 30, retired from the 
city of New York, and, three days afterwards, at- 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON, 373 

tempted to assemble at the White Plains; but a 
number requisite to do business not appearing, 
the Congress did not convene until July 8, the 
day appointed for the opening of the new session. 
While Congress was, for those few days, in abey- 
ance, information came from Philadelphia that the 
independence of the Thirteen Colonies would cer- 
tainly be declared. 

Independence had grown into the general 
theme of conversation, and more and more into 
a general wish.^ 

The measures of Congress had, indeed, for 
some time taken their complexion from the tem- 
per of the people. The projects against the dis- 
affected were more vigorous and searching; its 
language towards the British government, in all 
its branches, less the language of subjects, and 
better calculated to turn the attention of the peo- 
ple to Congress and the Provincial assemblies, 
as the active and ultimate ruling authority of the 
country; general letters of marque and reprisal 
were granted, and a naval armament was begun.^ 

^ As to the existence of a sincerely conciliatory spirit on the 
part of the colonists towards England, consult Sparks' Life and 
Writings of Washington, vol. 2, appendix, 496 ; and Rives' Life 
and Ti7nes of fames Madison, vol. i, pp. 108-114. 

2 John Adams was four years in Congress, from 1774 to 1778, 
and he had most to do on the naval committee. *rhat committee 
purchased and fitted out [November 25, 1775] five vessels. "The 
first they named Alfred, in honor of the founder of the greatest 
navy that ever existed. The second, Columbus, after the discov- 



374 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

And the ports were opened to all nations and 
people not owing allegiance to the British Crown. 
But a measure had been adopted, profound and 
irrevocable in its nature, which was truly consid- 
ered by the Continental Congress and by all 
America as deciding for the Colonies the ques- 
tion of their political liberty, if not separation 
from the Crown. Thitherto, it was recommended 
by the Congress to only particular colonies to set 
up temporary institutions for the conduct of their 
governance and public proceedings during the ex- 
istence of the controversy; but, on May lo, a 
resolution was offered, advising, generally, to those 
colonies which had not already established them, 
the adoption of regular governments adequate to 
the permanent wants and good of the people. 
Upon this advice such governments were organ- 
ized and settled. A declaration of independence 
was the necessary inference. It was the fact : 
whatever theory may have continued to be in- 
dulged by those who spoke a different political 
sentiment. 

At the moment of its assembling at the White 
Plains, on July 9, 1776, the Provincial Congress 
received a letter, addressed to it from John Han- 
cock, the president of the Continental Congress. 

erer of this quarter of the globe. The third, Cabot, for the dis- 
coverer of this northern part of the continent. The fourth, An- 
drew Doria, in memory of the great Genoese Admiral ; and the 
fifth, Providence, for the town where she was purchased." 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 375 

It was read, and communicated to them the ex- 
pected information, that " the Congress have 
judged it necessary to dissolve all connection be- 
tween Great Britain and the American Colonies, 
and to declare them free and independent States." 
A copy of the Declaration of Independence was 
sent with the letter, and a request made that the 
Provincial Congress have it proclaimed through- 
out the colony. The declaration was unanimously 
approved,^ and ordered to be published by beat 
of drum, and other modes of publicity: and was 
taken as the ground and foundation of a new form 
of government, though the substance, the genius, 
traditions, principles, and the jurisprudence of the 
Constitution of England, the heritage of their fa- 
thers, was to be loyally retained.^ Therefore, this 
Congress resolved at once on the same day, July 
9, 1776, that its own title be changed from "The 
Provincial Congress of the Colony of New York," 
which it had borne, to that of " The Convention 

' Sparks' Life of Gouve7-neur Morris, vol. i, p. in. 

2 " That revolution did not subvert government in all its forms. 
It did not subvert local laws and municipal administrations. It 
only threw off the dominion of a power claiming to be superior, 
and to have a right, in many important respects, to exercise legis- 
lative authority. Thinking this authority to have been usurped 
or abused, the American Colonies, now the United States, bade it 
defiance, and freed themselves from it by means of a revolution. 
But that revolution left them with their own municipal laws still, 
and the forms of local government." — Works of Daniel Webster, 
vol. 3, p. 460. 



376 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

of the Representatives of the State of New York."^ 
And thus ended the labors of the last public body 
which, in New York, acknowledged an allegiance 
to the British Crown. 

At six o'clock of the evening of the day when 
Washington received the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence, the regiments of the American Army 
were assembled, and the proclamation read aloud 
in their hearing. It was welcomed with the most 
hearty demonstrations of long-suppressed feelings 
relieved, and of fervid joy. " The General hopes " 
says the army orders of the day, " that this im- 
portant event will serve as a fresh incentive to 
every officer and soldier, to act with fidelity and 
courage, as knowing that now the peace and 
safety of his country depend, under God, solely 
on the success of our arms, and that he is now 
in the service of a State possessed of sufficient 
power to reward his merit, and advance him to 
the highest honors of a free country." 

The campaign that followed presents two dis- 
tinct phases, or aspects ; one succeeding the other. 
Its first phase, beginning in the State of New 
York, was one of little else than disaster to the 
colonial cause : the American Army retiring 
from Long Island, over Manhattan Island, and 
through the Jerseys to the western banks of the 
Delaware, before the attacks and pursuit of the 

^ Sparks' Life of Gouverneur Morris^ vol. i, p. 112. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 377 

British Army; and then, in its brighter phase, 
when Washington, inspired by the dangers of his 
position, with a sudden and admirable change of 
fortune and poHcy, crossed and recrossed the ice- 
encumbered waters of the Delaware, and, by a 
series of brilliant and rapid strides, the strategic 
movements at Trenton, and the battle at Prince- 
ton, restored the fainting hopes of the country. 

The middle of August was passed before the 
British reenforcements had all arrived and re- 
ported to Sir William Howe. Intelligence was 
soon after brought to New York that the forces 
under Howe were landing on Long Island, at a 
spot between the Narrows and Sandy Hook. It 
was then more apparent, and as the preparations 
directed by Washington had forewarned, that 
Howe's plan was to reach the city of New York by 
way of Long Island. General Nathanael Greene 
was in command of the American forces on that 
island, but, during the time when the battle was 
fought, he was lying seriously ill of a fever, at the 
residence of John Inglis, in the Sailors' Snug 
Harbor, on the northwest corner of what is, at 
the present day, known as Broadway and Ninth 
Street; then a quiet suburban retreat^ General 
Putnam took the command four days only before 
the action begun. 

It was in this memorable campaign, of alternate 

^ Life of Nathanael Greene, by his son, vol. i, p. 206. 



Z7^ LIFE AND EPOCH OF HAMILTON. 

defeat and success, ending when the American 
Army went into winter-quarters at Morristown, 
New Jersey, that Alexander Hamilton became 
familiar with the practical affairs of actual war. 
In it his intellectual abilities, practical skill, and 
untiring energy were brought to the appreciative 
notice of Washington ; and there began that re- 
markable friendship which ended only with life. 
We will trace, in our next and concluding chap- 
ter, the career of Hamilton from the inception of 
his military course to the time when he became 
the aid-de-camp and confidential adviser of Wash- 
ington. 



CHAPTER IX. 

CONCLUDING THE VOLUME. 
[1776-I777.] 
yETAT. 19-20. 



CHAPTER IX. 

[i 776-1 777.] 

The brilliantly successful exploits of Montgom- 
ery captivated many of the students of King's 
College, It seemed as if a passion for military 
glory had inflamed the young blood of the whole 
country. The strains of military songs protracted 
political and convivial private meetings far into 
the evening, and taverns and clubs resounded 
with the popular chants of the " Hearts of Oak " 
and " The Drum." ^ It was the sudden and heroic 
death, however, of Montgomery which produced a 
deeper impression and a more sober and abiding 
resolution. Besides Ticonderoga was now likely 
to be retaken by Carleton, and thereby the road 
opened for the Englishry into the centre of the 
Province of New York. The repulsed expedition 
must, therefore, it was demanded, be strengthened 
and revived. Canada must be maintained as the 

^ " The Drum " was a favorite song with Hamilton, and the only- 
one which he sang. He sang it at the dinner of the Cincinnati So- 
ciety, on July 4, 1804, eight days before the fatal duel with Burr. 
The latter was present, and sat near Hamilton : but the proposed 
duel, already set for the 12th, was not suspected. 



382 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

battle-ground, and the iron hoof of war kept at a 
distance from the fair fields of the valleys of the 
Hudson and the Mohawk.^ When the news was 
brought to New York City of Montgomery's death 
and of the disastrous event at Quebec, a number 
of gentlemen, reputed for their prudent and sin- 
cere patriotism, arranged a plan for raising a bat- 
talion of fifteen hundred men for nine months 
service. The project was presented to the Pro- 
vincial Congress, and Gouverneur Morris named 
by the projectors for one of the lieutenant-colo- 
nels. It was not acceptable. 

A volunteer corps was begun, nevertheless, in a 
sort of informal way ; and for the declared pur- 
pose of giving practical instruction in military 
tactics to those who desired it. The corps was 
placed under the training of Major Fleming, a 
gentleman who had been an adjutant in the Brit- 
ish army. This was very early in 1776, and be- 
fore the organization of a regular force. Ham- 
ilton, Robert Troup, Nicholas Fish,^ and other 

^ The Colony of New York was ordered to raise four regiments, 
of which the city was to furnish one. Of that M'Dougall was ap- 
pointed colonel, and Willetts, on June 28,1775, a captain. — Willetts' 
Narrative, etc., p. 33, in the New York Historical Society's Li- 
brary. 

2 These being the two most famihar associates of Hamilton, and 
his life-long personal and political friends, brief biographical no- 
tices are likely to be acceptable to the reader. 

Col. Robert Troup, LL. D., was born in New York City, in 1757. 
He was admitted a student in King's College in 1770, at which time 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 383 

of the collegians joined this body. Hamilton, 
with his natural eagerness, studied books on the 
science of war, narratives of campaigns, and the 

Edward Stevens, Hamilton's earliest friend, was also admitted. He 
and Stevens graduated on March 29, 1774, at the time when Gov- 
ernor Tryon was created LL. D. Troup studied law in the cham- 
bers of John Jay: joined the army as a lieutenant, early in 1776, 
and was, soon after, appointed aid-de-camp to General Woodhull ; 
on August 27, 1776, he was taken prisoner at the battle on Long 
Island, and, after long confinement in the Jersey prison-ship and 
then in the provost-prison in New York, was exchanged in the 
spring of 1777, and was that year with the army in New Jersey. He 
was aid-de-camp to General Gates, and present at the battle of 
Stillwater, and at the surrender of Burgoyne, October 17, 1777. 
February, 1778, he was appointed by Congress Secretary to the 
Board of War, of which Gates was president ; and when that board 
was dissolved, in 1779, he went to New Jersey and completed his 
law studies with William Patterson. When peace was declared 
Troup was made United States Judge for the District of New York. 
He resided many years at Geneva, N. Y., as the principal agent 
of the great Pulteney estate. He died at New York City, on Jan- 
uary 14, 1832. At the time of Hamilton's death their law cham- 
bers were near each other on Broadway ; Hamilton's at No. 26, 
and his at No. 44. See ante, pp. 176-178. 

Colonel Nicholas Fish was born in New York, August 28, 
1758. When sixteen years old he was entered at the New Jersey 
College, but soon left and began the study of law in the chambers 
of John Morine Scott. June 21, 1775, he was appointed brigade- 
major to General Scott {Proceedings of Provincial Congress, vol. i, 
p. 502) ; then, November 21, major of the second New York regi- 
ment, and, at the end of the war, he was a lieutenant-colonel. He 
was in the battles of Saratoga ; a division-inspector, in 1778, under 
Baron Steuben ; commanded a corps of light infantry at the battle 
of Monmouth ; served in Sullivan's expedition against the Indians 
in 1779; was in 1780 attached to the infantry commanded by La- 
fayette ; and was very active in the operations of 1781, which ended 
with the surrender of Lord Cornwallis and the British army at 



384 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

history of the rise and fall of nations, and he daily 
exercised in the ranks during the winter. He 
was noted as an expert in the manual of arms. 
The name which this body took was that of " The 
Hearts of Oak." ^ It met every morning for drill 
in the churchyard of St. George's Chapel, on Beek- 
man Street. With their caps of leather, bearing 
on the frontlet the device " Victory or Death," — 
words at that moment significant and inspiring,^ — 
and with their green colored uniforms,^ the young 

Yorktown. At the last place Fish was major of the detachment 
which, under the command of Hamilton, stormed the British re- 
doubt. He was adjutant-general of the State of New York in 1786 ; 
was supervisor of the revenue under Washington's administra- 
tion in 1794; an alderman of his native city from 1806 to 1817 ; 
and President of the New York Cincinnati Society in 1797. He 
was honored by the confidence of Washington ; and was one 
of the executors nominated by Hamilton of his last will. He 
died in New York, on June 20, 1833. 

^ So called, after the song of which David Garrick is the reputed 
author. — Songs and Ballads of the Revobition., p. 47. 

2 Each soldier that was with Montgomery in the fatal assault on 
Quebec wore in his cap, that they might recognize each other, a 
piece of white paper, on which some of them wrote, " Liberty or 
Death." — Bancroft's History of the United States, vol. 8, p. 205. 

^ This was the color of dress used by the Colonial regiment in 
the French war of 1758-1763. Colonel Marinus Willetts, who had 
been a Heutenant in one of its companies, gives this description : 
" It consisted of a green coat, trimmed with silver twist, white 
under clothes and black gaiters ; also a cocked hat, with a large 
black cockade of silk ribbon, together with a silver button and 
loop." — A Narrative, etc., by Colonel Marinus Willetts, p. 11. 
New York, 1831. 

The artillery company, which General Schuyler, in 1775, orig- 
inated, were clad in a uniform of " blue, faced with buff ; " and is 
assumed to be the first officially authorized uniform in this country 
of what are known as the American colors. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 385 

patriots were attractive and efficacious examplars 
to the people. 

King's College was more and more the subject 
of turbulent interruption in the due performance 
of its functions, from an acrimonious popular dis- 
like. The avowed and persistent animosity of its 
President against the colonial cause, naturally- 
incurred such resentment. The previous year 
[1775] there was, on account of the absence of 
Doctor Cooper, no public Commencement. In- 
deed, the last Commencement which King's Col- 
lege was ever to hold had been held. It had 
assembled in Trinity Church, on March 29, 1774; 
on which occasion — as the adversaries of the 
college reminded each other with inimical pur- 
pose — Governor William Tryon was created LL. 
D. There was no admission for students in 
1776. The college was to come to an end; for, 
" on the sixth of April, a message w^as sent to the 
treasurer of the college (signed by Robert Benson) 
from a number of men who styled themselves the 
Committee of Safety, desiring the Governor to 
prepare the College in six days for the reception 
of troops. In consequence of this demand the 
students were dispersed, the library, apparatus, 
etc., were deposited in the City Hall, and the Col- 
lege was turned into an hospital." ^ 

^ See The Matrictda, or Register of Admissions and Gradua- 
tions, etc., in King's College at New York:'''' a MSS. book pre- 

25 



386 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

Washington left Boston on the 6th of April, 
and was in Connecticut, on his way to New York 
to assume the immediate command. He arrived 
on the 13th at his headquarters, in that city. 
The Committee of Public Safety appointed a 
special committee to act in cooperation with him 
on behalf of the Colony.^ 

There is a story, related by some who have 
written concerning Hamilton's early life, that at 
this dispersion of the collegians he inclined 
to return to St. Croix,^ but was persuaded by 
friends to remain and aid the cause of constitu- 
tional resistance to illegal oppression. The sup- 
position is inconsistent with the incidents which 
we have related, and with the unconcealed ambi- 

served in the President's room at Columbia College. The book 
contains the contemporaneous record of Alexander Hamilton, 
March, 1774 ; the last entry but one of a class of seventeen 
members. Owing to the suspension of its functions Hamilton 
did not receive a degree until 1788, when Columbia College con- 
ferred on him the degree of A. M. The college was revived under 
the title of Columbia at the close of the Revolutionary War, and 
first conferred degrees in 1786. 

The Committee of Public Safety, which was appointed by, and 
acted for, the Provincial Congress in this recess, wished to avoid 
quartering any Continental troops on the citizens, and made the 
order, on April 4, 1776, to have the college buildings prepared for 
those troops, when they were informed that Washington was on his 
way to take the immediate command. See Journal of the Provin- 
cial Congress, vol. i, p. 400. 

^ Ibid,, p. 409. 

2 Recollections, etc., of Washington, by his adopted son, G. W. 
P. Custis, p. 342. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 387 

tious nature of Hamilton. At that instant — and 
it is decisive on the point — he was already in the 
military regular service of the Province. 

Lord Stirling, then in command at New York, 
had, it appears, heard of the proficient mental 
talents of Hamilton, and of his application to mili- 
tary studies and drill. He requested Elias Bou- 
dinot, the early friend of Hamilton, to secure the 
young collegian's services for his staff. The re- 
quest came too late. But it is noteworthy : for it 
shows his good repute and how early he was 
sought by those who stood among the highest. 
Stirling received the answer to his request in the 
following letter, dated Newark, March 10, 1776, 
from Mr. Boudinot: — 

" My Lord : On my brother's return from New York, he 
informed me that Mr. Hamilton had already accepted the 
command of artillery, and was therefore deprived of the pleas- 
ure of attending your Lordship's person as brigade major." ^ 

It was at the beginning of that month Hamil- 
ton applied for the command of the company of 
artillery which the Province had ordered to be 
raised for the Colony. He presented himself to 
the Board of Examiners, over which presided 
Alexander M'Dougall, now colonel, who was the 
chairman of the " meeting in the fields." ^ A few 

1 Life of William Alexander, Lord of Stirling, p, 136, published 
by the New Jersey Historical Society. 1847. 

2 Ante, pp. 216-2x8. 



388 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

days afterwards [March 14] Hamilton received 
his commission as " Captain of the Provincial 
company of artillery." There was another com- 
pany of artillery organized by the Province, but 
that was assigned to and acted with the Continen- 
tal service. It was that one which was commanded 
by John Lamb ; and formed a part of the first 
regiment set afoot in the city of New York for 
the general defense, and which had gone with 
Montgomery's expedition to Canada. M'Dougall 
had the command of the Colonial regiment, for 
home service ; and Hamilton's friend Willetts was 
appointed captain of its second company of in- 
fantry.^ " Without delay Hamilton recruited his 
men, and, with the remnant of the second and 
last remittance from his relatives in Santa Cruz, 
having equipped " the company, it was finally at- 
tached to the brigade which was under General 
John Morine Scott,^ and of which his friend 
Nicholas Fish was brigade-major. 

Soon after Hamilton had begun to form his 
corp of artillerists their services were required by 
the Provincial Congress : and on April 2, the 
guard belonging to the first regiment of the city 
was relieved from watching for the safety of the 
public records, and Captain Hamilton was "di- 

^ Manual of the Corporation of the City of New York, for 1869, 
pp. 792, 793. 

2 Proceedings of the Provincial Congress, vol. i, p. 497, June 
17, 1776. Hamilton's History of the Republic, vol. I, p. 20. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 389 

rected to place and keep a proper guard of his 
company at the records until further order." ^ 
This was his first military act. The records were 
at the time lodged, for safer keeping than the 
public of^ces seemed to afford, in the house of 
Nicholas Bayard, the deputy. Hamilton's com- 
pany was relieved, in turn, from this duty, on 
April 11,^ and on the 14th of June the public 
records were removed from Bayard's house, and 
by boat taken to Kingston on the Hudson,^ be- 
cause the Congress might yet have to retire there, 
and it was a place beyond the reach of danger. 
Within a month from this time Washington or- 
dered [May 11] all the troops to encamp; and 
Hamilton, with his company, were employed in 
the routine of such life in active service, — guard- 
ing "the Provincial powder;"* searching, by special 
license^ from Congress, for deserters from his own 
corps on board a Continental vessel ; or petition- 
ing Congress to deal justly by the men of his com- 
mand, and to reward by promotion some of them 
who deserved it. Two instances will be suffi- 
cient to show the care which his corps received 
from his diligent providence : — 

On May 26, 1776, the Provincial Congress re- 

^ Proceedings of the Provincial Congress, vol. I, p. 396. 

■^ Ibid. , p. 403. ^ Ibid., p. 494. 

* Proceedings of the Provincial Congress., vol. i, p. 488. June i. 

8 Ibid., p. 31. May 31. 



390 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

ceived a letter from Captain Hamilton, dated that 
day. It was read, filed, and its requests granted 
at once.^ He had written : — 

" I take the liberty to request your attention to a few par- 
ticulars which will be of considerable importance to the 
future progress of the company under my command ; and I 
shall be much obliged to you for as speedy a determination 
concerning them as you can conveniently give. The most 
material is respecting the pay. Our company, by their arti- 
cles, are to be subject to the same regulations, and to receive 
the same pay, as the Continental artillery. Hitherto I have 
conformed to the standard laid down in the Journal of the 
Congress, published loth May, 1775 ; but I am well informed 
that, by some later regulation, the pay of the artillery has been 

augmented You will discover a considerable difference ; 

and I doubt not you will be easily sensible that such a differ- 
ence should not exist. I am not personally interested in 
having an augmentation .... because my own pay will re- 
main the same as it now is : but I make this application on 
behalf of the company ; as I am fully convinced such a dis- 
advantageous distinction will have a very pernicious effect on 
the minds and behavior of the men. They do the same duty 
with the other companies, and think themselves entitled to 
the same pay As to the circumstance of our being con- 
fined to the defense of the Colony, it will have little or no 
weight ; for there are but few in the company who would not 
as willingly leave the Colony on any necessary expedition, as 

stay in it Also, I should be glad to be informed if my 

company is to be allowed the frock which is given to the 
other troops as a bounty .-' This frock would be extremely 
serviceable in summer, while the men are on fatigue ; and 

^ Works of Hatnilton, vol. i, pp. 7, 8. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 39 1 

would put it in their power to save their uniform much 
longer."^ 

Again, on July 26, he addressed Congress: — 

" I am obliged to trouble you to remove a difficulty which 
arises respecting the quantity of subsistence which is to be 
allowed my men. Inclosed you have the rates of rations, 
which is the standard of the whole Continental, and even the 
Provincial army ; but it seems Mr. Curtensius cannot afford 
to supply us with more than his contract stipulates ; which, by 
comparison, you will perceive is considerably less than the 
forementioned rate. My men, you are sensible, are, by their 
articles, entitled to the same subsistence with the Continental 
troops ; and it would be to them an insupportable discrimina- 
tion, as well as a breach of the terms of their enlistment, to give 
them almost a third less provisions than the whole army be- 
sides receives. I doubt not you will readily put this matter 
upon a proper footing. Hitherto we have drawn our full 
allowance from Mr. Curtensius ; but he did it upon the sup- 
position that he would have a farther consideration for the 
extraordinary supply. At present, however, he scruples to 
proceed in the same way, till he can be put upon a more cer- 
tain foundation." ^ 

By a resolution of the Congress on the 17th of 
June preceding, his company of artillery was 
considered a part of the quota of militia to be 
raised by the city ; and, on receipt of this letter, 
it was ordered that, " as Captain Hamilton's com- 
pany was formerly a part of General Scott's brig- 
ade, that they henceforth be supplied with provis- 
ions as a part of the brigade," ^ and Mr. Curten- 

1 Journal of Provincial Congress, vol. i , p. 462. 

2 Works of Hatnilton, vol. i, p. 9. 

8 Journal of Provi7tcial Congress, vol. i, p. 462. 



392 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

sius was relieved from further service in this 
particular. 

But more general and important consequences 
followed his letter of August 12, for Congress 
directed Colonel Livingston to call on Hamilton 
personally and confer respecting the suggestions 
made by him.-^ 

This letter stated : — 

" It is necessary I should inform you that there is at pres- 
ent a vacancy in my company, arising from the promotion of 
Lieutenant Johnson to a Captaincy in one of the new Gallies 
(which command, however, he has since resigned for a very 
particular reason). As artillery officers are scarce in propor- 
tion to the call for them, and as myself and my remaining 
officers sustain an extraordinary weight of duty on account of 
the present vacancy, I shall esteem it a favor, if you will be 
pleased, as soon as possible, to make up my deficiency by a 
new appointment. It would be productive of much incon- 
venience should not the inferior officers succeed in course, 
and from this consideration I doubt not you will think it 
proper to advance Mr. Gilleland and Mr. Bean, and fill up the 
third lieutenancy with some other person. I beg the liberty 
warmly to recommend to your attention Thomas Thompson — 
now first Sergeant in my company — a man highly deserving 
of notice and preferment. He has discharged his duty in his 
present station with uncommon fidelity, assiduity, and expert- 
ness. He is a very good disciplinarian — possesses the ad- 
vantage of having seen a good deal of service in Germany, 
has a tolerable share of common sense, and will not disgrace 
the rank of an officer and gentleman. In a word, I verily be- 
lieve he will make an excellent lieutenant, and his advance 

1 Journal of Provincial Congress, vol. i, p. 574. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 393 

ment will be a great encouragement and benefit to my com- 
pany in particular, and will be an animating example to all 
men of merit to whose knowledge it comes." ^ 

Colonel Livingston, when he had conferred 
with Hamilton, reported to the Congress, That 
body instantly appointed Thompson to the lieu- 
tenancy, and adopted the novel policy, which was 
commended by Hamilton, of advancing compe- 
tent and exemplary men from the ranks. France, 
and, in our own times, other European govern- 
ments have adopted a like system with great ben- 
efit. And it was ordered that this special action 
of Congress be published in the newspapers of 
the State, and made known in a conspicuous man- 
ner throughout the army, to the end that the 
promise of like promotion should be widely spread 
and its efficacy general.^ 

Three days before Hamilton wrote this letter, 
which produced these important results, his com- 
pany of artillery was permanently incorporated by 
order of the Congress into General Scott's brig- 
ade, and considered as a part of the State troops 
in the Continental service.^ 

On the 15th of August, a single incident oc- 
curred which manifests that Hamilton had used 
the time since he organized his artillery company, 

^ Works of Hamilton, vol. i, p. 10. 

2 Journal of Provincial Congress, vol. i, p. 574. 

* Ibid., p. 564. August 9, 1776. 



394 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

SO as to impart credit to himself and his men. 
But we have few special anecdotes and actual cir- 
cumstances. Many, likely, rest in obscurity. Yet 
by the fruitful work we are assured of his dili- 
gence. He was living again that deeply earnest 
life which emits no ebullitions to the surface, and 
suppresses mere display. As in his seminary and 
college courses, so here : we infer the labor by the 
product. The habit of thoroughness evidently con- 
tinued to leave its stamp on all things in which he 
engaged. One thing at a time, and that absorb- 
ingly. His command was the model of precise 
and intelligent discipline. "About this time" 
[August 15] General Nathanael Greene, — it is 
the son of that great general, pronounced by his- 
tory second to Washington only, who relates the 
anecdote, — "laid the foundation of a friendship 
which was to grow stronger year by year, and end 
only with life. Duty as well as inclination often 
called him to headquarters ; and his way from 
the ferry led him through the Park, then open 
ground, and frequently used for drills and parades. 
One day, on passing through it, whether in com- 
ing or in going the tradition does not tell, his at- 
tention was attracted by the soldierly appearance 
of a company of young artillerists, and particu- 
larly by the air and bearing of their commander, 
who, though but a boy in size, went through his 
duty with the precision of a veteran. When the 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 395 

parade was over, Greene sent to compliment the 
young officer on his proficiency, and invite him 
to dinner. The invitation was accepted ; and 
thus bes^an that intercourse with Alexander Ham- 
ilton which, founded on a just appreciation of 
each other's talents, perfect confidence in each 
other's motives, equal devotion to the cause in 
which they were engaged, and a singular har- 
mony of opinions upon all the great questions in- 
volved in it, was a source of strength and happi- 
ness. ^ 

The American forces assigned to duty on Long 
Island were unable to resist the advance of the 
British army. Those engaged were under the 
immediate command of General Israel Putnam, 
with General Sullivan and Lord Stirling, and did 
not exceed five thousand men ; though the aggre- 
gate number of American troops on the island at 
the time numbered some nine thousand. Op- 
posed to those five thousand were fifteen thou- 
sand of the enemy, well provided with artillery, 
under the command of General Clinton, with 
Lords Percy and Cornwallis. About three o'clock 
in the morning of the 27th of August, the British 
were moving along the road which led from the 
shore of the Narrows. Stirling advanced to meet 
them, and Sullivan went out to the heights on the 
middle road, to oppose any movement in that 

^ Life of Gen. Nathanael Greene, by his son, vol. i, p. 193. 



39^ LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

direction : at the close of the battle, the enemy 
were encamped close in front of the American 
lines of defense. It was the British commander's 
plan to carry those defenses by regular approaches, 
whenever the fleet came from the Narrows to 
cooperate with him. The Americans had con- 
tested every foot of ground while they were retir- 
ing within their lines. Hamilton and his artillery 
company were with those who brought up the 
rear, and, it was reported, lost his baggage and a 
field-piece.^ The issue of the day was very disas- 
trous. Between eleven and twelve hundred men 
were lost; more than a thousand of whom were 
captured, and Sullivan and Stirling were among 
the prisoners. A heavy rain, however, kept the 
main body of the enemy in their tents during the 
next day, and a strong head-wind detained the 
fleet from sailing to Howe's aid. Washington 
lost little time in deliberation. A council of war 
was called; it was determined to withdraw the 
troops, and on the morning of the 30th of August, 
while a dense fog lay upon the place and vicinity, 
the whole of those American forces, the military 
stores, nearly all the provisions, and the artillery, 
with a few exceptions, were safely transported into 
New York. The last boat of the retreat was 
crossing the East River before the elusion was 
discovered by the British. The secrecy, silence, 

* Mulligan's Recollections. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 397 

and order by which this retreat was managed 
make it one of the remarkable military events 
in history.-^ 

Upon this appearance of a victory Lord Howe 
proceeded to execute the special mission upon 
which he had been sent to America. The project 
was presented to the committee which Congress 
had, by invitation, delegated to meet and confer 
with Lord Howe at Staten Island. Congress re- 
mained firm, and adhered to its original demands 
as the conditions of settlement. The scheme of 
the Ministry failed.^ 

For the time the effect of the disaster upon the 
spirits of the troops and people was most depress- 
ing. Yet it was only the beginning of a series of 
temporary losses and visitations to the Continental 
cause ; but by which adversities, nevertheless, a 
concourse of raw recruits were being disciplined 
into an efficient army, which was, unexpectedly, 
to turn upon its pursuers, outmatch them in stra- 
teQ:ic skill, and attain the most valuable results of 
this very campaign. 

* A full description of the battle on Long Island, — indeed of any 
of the actual conflicts of this campaign, — does not belong to the 
consideration of the subject of this book. They who would know 
more of those military operations will find all that is necessary to 
an accurate general understanding in Sparks' Life of Washingtoti^ 
vol. I, pp. 189-196; and in Marshall's Life of Washington, vol. i, 
pp. 86-95. 

2 Life of John Adams, by his son, vol. i, pp. 333-338- 



398 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

On the 15th of September, Washington, look- 
ing upon the city of New York as an untenable 
position for his army, and while preparations were 
making to evacuate it, was with the main body of 
the forces entrenched on the heights of Harlem. 
Putnam remained in New York with a division. 
In the morning of that day three men-of-war, be- 
longing to the British fleet, ascended the Hudson 
River as high as Bloomingdale. It was a feint to 
divert the attention of the Americans; for, at a 
little later time of the morning, under fire from two 
forty-gun ships and three frigates, there landed at 
Kip's Bay, on the East River side of Manhattan 
Island, a division of the British army, comprising 
British and the Hessian troops. The regiments, 
posted at that place to protect the lines, were pre- 
cipitately retreating when Washington rode has- 
tily toward where the enemy were appearing, 
putting his own person in danger, and thereby 
" hoped to encourage the men by his example, or 
rouse them to a sense of shame for their coward- 
ice. But all his exertions were fruitless. The 
troops, being eight regiments in all, fled to the 
main body on Harlem Plains." ^ With difficulty 
and much loss Putnam made his way with his di- 
vision from the city towards Harlem. Three 
hundred of his command were taken prisoners ; 
fifteen others are known to have been killed ; 

1 Sparks' Life of Washington, vol. i, p. 199. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 399 

and nearly all the heavy cannon, and a consider- 
able quantity of baggage, stores, and provisions 
were abandoned in the town. The speedy escape 
effected by Putnam was the result of precaution, 
not panic : for the British general, by a prompt 
maneuver stretching his command across an upper 
part of the island from Kip's Bay to the Hudson 
River, could have effectually cut off a complete re- 
treat of that division. This was not attempted, 
perhaps not thought of, by the dilatory General 
Howe ; nor was even a pursuit conducted with 
any vigor. Howe, having taken possession of the 
city by a small detachment, advanced and pitched 
his encampment near to the American lines, with 
his right on the East River and his left on the 
Hudson, and each extreme under the protection 
of the British ships. And Washington then drew 
at once all his forces together within the protec- 
tion of the lines; and that night the American 
army rested undisturbed on the hills above the 
Plains of Harlem. 

The following day was accomplished that bril- 
liant episode, the fight on Harlem Plains, which 
appeared as a cheering ray in the darkness. The 
engagement and its skirmishes lasted four hours, 
though the sharp action of the strife was much 
less in its duration. Howe reported that eight 
officers and seventy privates were wounded and 
fourteen men killed. The Americans lost fifteen 



400 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

killed and forty-five wounded. The circumstance 
of this conflict was important on account simply 
of its influence upon the army at that instant. 
The retreating, eluding, flying, and discomfitures, 
which occurred since the British army debarked 
upon Long Island, combined to dishearten the 
troops, to weaken confidence in them, and their 
confidence in their ofiicers. The spirited conduct 
and success of this day on Harlem Plains were 
accepted as evidence that the enemy were not in- 
vincible, and that courage and skillful action had 
not departed from the ranks of the colonists. 
The British commander did not venture to assault 
the works on the hills. His army remained inact- 
ive on the Plains below for more than three 
weeks.^ 

It was at this time and in this vicinity that 
Hamilton met with the two persons whose names 
are ever specially associated in the minds of men 
with his own. 

Washington, when inspecting the erection of 
an earthwork which Hamilton superintended, en- 
tered into conversation with him, received impres- 
sions favorable to the young officer, and invited 
him to the tent of the commander-in-chief.^ 

^ The most circumstantial and intelligible account of this fight is 
in a paper written by Mr. Henry B. Dawson, and read by him be- 
fore the Historical Society of New York. It is published in the 
Manual of the Corporation of the City of New York, for 1868, pp. 
804-812. 

^ Hamilton's History of the Republic, vol. i. p. 129. 




f/^^ 



Heliotype Printing Co., Boston. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 401 

The other was Aaron Burr. He was a Major, 
and acting as aid-de-camp to General Putnam. 
He arrived with that General's division in its hur- 
ried and dismembered retreat from the town. On 
the main road, about three miles from the Har- 
lem bridge, was the turnpike-gate, near which 
stood, within the last quarter of a century, a 
quaintly constructed two -story dwelling-house. 
Here Washington paused awhile, retreating from 
Harlem towards the White Plains, establishing 
his lines, and encamping his troops along the 
eastern banks of the Bronx River. Within view 
of that house, we have been told,^ Hamilton and 
Burr first met. Angry words passed between 
them. What was the cause is not known. It is 
probable that a mutual dislike was irresistible. 
They had little in common together. Burr was 
fearless, adventurous, insubordinate, subtle, and 
crafty. Hamilton was resolute, ambitious, brave, 
frank, and candid. Burr was the son of parents 
eminent for their correct and intellectual piety, 
even among the straitest sect of their evangelical 
creed. His maternal grandfather was the great 
divine and philosopher, Jonathan Edwards ; his 
father, the distinguished President of Princeton 
College ; his mother was Esther, the highly es- 
teemed and best known of her father's worthy 

^ The late Mrs. Cochrane. See ante, p. 45. This lady died at 
Oswego, New York, August 26, 1857, aged 'jd. 
26 



402 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

daughters, of whom it has been said that " she ex- 
ceeded most of her sex in the beauty of her per- 
son, as well as in her behavior and conversation ; 
.... an ornament to her sex, being equally dis- 
tinguished for the suavity of her manners, her lit- 
erary accomplishments, and her unfeigned regard 
to religion." Both his parents died while he was 
very young. He had been a brigade-major to 
General Benedict Arnold in the expedition under 
Montgomery to Canada, and was in the attack 
upon Quebec when that hero fell, but in a distinct 
assault made at a distant part of the town, though 
a portion of the concerted plan for storming 
its fortifications. A romantic and fanciful story 
was told of how he was carrying Montgomery's 
body down the snow and ice obstructed declivity, 
when he was compelled to forsake the corpse on 
fast pursuit by the foe. The tale is mere inven- 
tion ; ^ but it is not probable that Burr was in any 
sense answerable for its origin. Burr, a little 
while after Washington took the command in 
New York, became, in May, by the commander's 
invitation, attached to his staff ; went to reside at 
Richmond Hill, the headquarters, and had an 
allotted place at Washington's own table. He 
remained but a few weeks. Burr was ever im- 
patient of control, and eager for personal distinc- 

^ See letter of Arnold, dated December 31, 1775, published in 
Dawson's Historical Magazine, vol. 4, pp. 272, 273. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 403 

tion. His leave-taking of General Arnold was 
an act of cool and impudent insubordination.^ 
The overmastering moral influence ; the silent 
superiority of a noble life, which weak and bad 
men hate ; the absence of encouragement for in- 
trigue ; the repression of all mere brilliant con- 
versation and adventurous exploits, made the 
presence and habitation of Washington dull and 
tasteless to Aaron Burr. Simplicity and quiet 
grandeur were the attributes of Washington in 
his daily course. Burr saw nothing to admire in 
Washington, and nothing of advantage to hope 
for to himself, or even to the cause. Washing- 
ton was no soldier, no scholar ; only a plain, over- 
decorous, prudent, honest farmer, with some expe- 
rience in border warfare. So thought Burr, and 
most sincerely. Washington, too, had for some 
reason conceived a dislike for him. In after years, 
it is known, this dislike assumed a more serious 
distrust and repulsion. In July, Burr left the 
commander and joined the staff of General Put- 
nam, where we find him when he and Hamilton 
first met. 

Burr was then in the twenty-first year of his 

1 Burr, on the instant of departure, was stepping into a boat 
on the river Sorel, when General Arnold, approaching him, said : 
" Why, Major Burr, you are not going ? " "I am, sir." " But," an- 
swered Arnold, "you know it is against my orders." " I know," re- 
plied Burr, emphatically, "that you have the power to stop me, 
but nothing short of force shall doit." — Virion's Life of Btcrr, 
p. 78. 



404 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

age/ nearly a year older than Hamilton ; and 
smaller even than he in stature. With a coun- 
tenance finely indicative of keen and quick intelli- 
gence ; simple in language and accurate in elocu- 
tion; polished and graceful in manner, and conver- 
sant with the niceties of high social intercourse, 
the young aid-de-camp, with his reputation for 
daring and skill in war and love, presented a most 
attractive individuality. His reputation for refined 
sensuous gallantry arose, or became more openly 
known, at this stage of his career. He certainly 
won when he was aid-de-camp to General Putnam 
the morbidly sentimental passion of the famed 
Margaret Moncrieffe, then a young girl fourteen 
years old. Her " Memoirs " ^ make no disguise, 
but rather an ostentatious display, of her fond re- 
gard for " him who subdued her virgin heart." 

1 Born at Newark, N. J., February 6, 1786. He graduated 
at Princeton College, September, 1772, when he was sixteen 
years old. Among his fellow-collegians were William Patterson, 
afterwards a Judge of the Supreme Court of the United States, 
with whom Burr studied law ; Colonel Matthias Ogden, who pro- 
cured him the appointment on Washington's staff; Samuel Spring, 
the father of the Rev. Dr. Gardner Spring ; Brockholst Livings- 
ton, the future Associate Justice of the National Supreme Court ; 
William Bradford, the future Attorney-General in Washington's 
Administration, and James Madison, the fourth President of the 
United States. — Parton's Life of Burr, pp. 59, 131, 134. Rives' 
Life and Times of Madisoft, vol. i, p. 23. 

2 Memoirs of Mrs. Coghlatt, daughter of the late Major Mott- 
crieffe, written by herself. There is a copy of this work (privately 
printed, 1864) in the Mercantile Library of New York. The first 
edition was published in London in 1794. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 405 

Hamilton's name is not free from reproach for 
libidinousness. It appears to have been observed 
afterwards by Mrs. Washington when he was at 
Morristown.^ He himself, curiously and charac- 
teristically, confessed it publicly, when Secretary of 
the Treasury. He admitted the frailty : but so as 
to enable him to defend his official honor. It is 
one of the most unique and interesting disclosures 
within the range of literature relating to the in- 
fluences of principle and habit upon human con- 
duct.^ The autobiographic Memoirs of De Retz 
and the "Confessions" of Rousseau are less valu- 
able as ethic-metaphysical evidences. Its decorous 
candor, the absence of feigned regret, and the un- 
reserved recital of facts, commended him to the 
sympathy even of his political opponents, and 
gained a popular absolution not readily given in 
this country to like offenses. We again anticipate 
somewhat, so as to bring this phase of their moral 
characteristics under one contrasting view. 

But Burr was an avowed and boastful libertine, 
pleasingly self-conscious of a subtle guile in the 
accomplishment of his desire, and the fascination 
by which he held those he enslaved. Margaret 

^ Moore's Diary of the American Revolution., vol. i, p. 250. 

2 The pamphlet, which Hamilton published in 1797, is entitled 
Observations on Certain Documents .... itt which the charge of 
Speculation against Alexander Hamilton, late Secretajy of the 
Treasury, is fully refuted. Writte?i by Himself. Philadelphia : 
Printed pro bono publico. 



4o6 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

Moncrieffe is no exceptional instance of the con- 
stancy which almost adulated his power of impure 
fascination. Though in intellect far superior, yet 
Burr had two conspicuous qualities which remind 
us of Rochester, whose personal courage was un- 
questionable and his lewdness refined ; but there 
was a natural " gay audacity " about the favorite 
companion of Charles II. entirely foreign to the 
intellectual intrigue which Burr cultivated. He 
was a being whose pursuits in life were pleasure 
and personal glory : of comfort, contentment, and 
happiness he seems to have become insensible. 

" Restless, unfixed in principles and place ; 
In power unpleased, impatient of disgrace ; 



A daring pilot in extremity ; 

Pleased with the danger, when the waves went high 

He sought the storm ; but for a calm unfit, 



In friendship false, — implacable in hate ; 
Resolved to ruin or to rule the state." ^ 

Hamilton, however, in this defect, was not a 
Pericles nor a Caesar : nor was the object of his 
attention an Aspasia or a Cleopatra. He was weak 
enough to be enticed from his conjugal fidelity, 
for a time, by an artful and illiterate adventuress 
called Maria Reynolds, the reputed wife of a de- 
praved and mercenary man. 

It is not always edifying to attempt an estima- 
tion of the comparative degrees of culpability: yet 

^ Dryden's Absalom and Achitophel, part i, lines 154-174. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 407 

there are often evolved thereby significant essen- 
tials which give light and shade to the truer un- 
derstanding of human character.^ There is cer- 
tainly an obvious distinction between hypocrisy 
and a gross sin, — it is a difference not favorable 
to hypocrisy and guile. There is a distinction 
between the insidious allurements of seduction 
and the indulgence of impurity : and the differ- 
ence is not favorable to the first named. It is 
pernicious to believe that "vice itself loses half its 
evil by losing all its grossness." There is no 
sense in which it can be true in fact or in morals. 
The genius of Edmund Burke can give no credit 
to its false lustre.^ Refinement and subtlety in 

1 "These are examples, and the thing is founded upon reason." 
— De Retz. 

2 This will be remembered by most readers as one of the several 
brilliant phrases which Burke scintillates in his glowing apostrophe 
to the Queen of France, when he laments that " the Age of 
Chivalry is gone." Dr. Pusey, when discoursing at Oxford on the 
responsibility of intellect, and drawing to the illustration and en- 
forcement of his theme the rich resources of Attic philosophy and 
of Christian ethics, most satisfactorily says: Intellect "invents 
ways by which to teach or incite our lower nature to offend against 
the laws of our nature. It will devise evil, from which our lower 
fellow-creatures, following blindly the laws of their limited capaci- 
ties, are exempt. It conceives and effectuates those gigantic crimes 
at which the world grows pale. All the vices of our nature are 
puny and dwarfed without it. It guides to deeper evil each varied 
passion of our fallen nature. It severs off the seducer from the 
coarse and vulgar profligate ; low cunning from common-place 
cheating ; sophistry from naked untruth ; subtle revenge from brute 
anger. The worst title which we could give, to brand an action of 



4o8 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

sin is a quality which belongs to the temperament 
of " the fallen spirits," and not to the frailty of 
"poor human nature." When Burr boasted of 
gallantries, even beyond the truth, he there added 
the very hypocrisy of simulated vice. Aside from 
his wickedness he was not a very eminent man 
in his intellectual superiority. He has left no 
work behind that lives — and all that is related of 
his labors exhibit mere learning, industry, tact, 
and wiliness. In the course of his most remark- 
able career as politician and lawyer, he showed 
himself ever the partisan with selfish purpose, and 
the adroit advocate — never the patriotic states- 
man nor the pure jurist. Without magnanimity, 
without imagination, incapable of suffering for 
righteousness' sake, he was always servile to his 
immediate object. There are people with erratic 
fancies who will never cease to admire such quali- 
ties as bright talents, even when seen in the com- 

cruelty, or revenge, or malice, or barbarity, or sensuality, would be 
to call it 'refined,' 'subtle ; ' meaning that intellect was more than 

usually debased to the service of man's lower passions Abused 

intellect, makes proverbs of Balaam or Ahithophel, or Jonadab, or 
Simon Magus. No world-wide evil ever existed without it. The 
scourges of mankind fell not like mere avalanches, but wielded 
through it their widely desolating might. If we would describe an 
almost superhuman abuse of intellect to evil, we call it by the name 
of that being of tremendous subtlety of talent, the fallen archangel, 
and term it ' devilish.' " — Sermon on The Responsibility of In- 
tellect in Matters of Faith, pp. 9, 10, preached Advent Sunday, 1872, 
and published by Parker & Son, Oxford, 1873. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 409 

panionship of crime. But those are qualities which 
attract only popular applause, and interest better 
people by suggestive peculiarities, — they do not 
attain to our respect or love. Burr presents the 
common spectacle of a man vitiated by the undue 
exaltation of intellect; of a bold, irregular, restless, 
personal ambition ; and of excellent talents debased 
in the service of evil. The perversion of intellect 
has, indeed, a melancholy preeminence of evil: and 
" the corruption of the best is the worst." The 
uses in which he employed those talents enabled 
him to make his way to the highest civil position, 
but one, in his country ; but they could not sup- 
port him there with further credit or profit to 
himself. From the Vice-Presidency of the United 
States of America he speedily declined, and sank 
to be dreaded, and in the end despised, by the 
whole nation and foreign parts, as an assassin and 
traitor.^ 

We, hereafter, catch simply glimpses, here 
and there, of Hamilton and his much diminished 
body of artillerists, as the American Army was 
eluding and safely retiring before the cautious 
and closely pursuing enemy. Washington had 

^ If the /«/d?«/ constitutes the crime, then Burr's challenge to Ham- 
ilton meant assassination. " My friend Hamilton — whom I shot ; " 
was one of the conversational formulas in which he referred to that 
event. His visit to Paris in 18 10, was occupied in treasonable 
projects against his country. No other epithets than those in the 
text can, in the full revelations which we have now, be used withoiit 
historical inaccuracy. — '^^^ Life of George Ticknor^ vol. 2, p. 292. 



4IO LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

abandoned entirely Manhattan Island. He had 
gone with the advanced division to the White 
Plains, and strengthened his position there. It 
afforded a secure stronghold for the whole of his 
army, and enabled him to be prepared to risk a 
general engagement, if Howe should attack him. 
The camp of the Americans was settled on ele- 
vated ground, which was defensible in its front by 
two lines of entrenchments, nearly parallel, and 
between four and five hundred yards from each 
other. The right wing extended to and rested on 
the little Bronx River, which, making a short bend, 
encompassed the flank and a part of the rear; 
the left wing reached to a small lake ^ sufficient 
in extent to give an effective security. The com- 
manding height of Chatterton's Hill rose half a 
mile southward of the right flank, separated from 
it by the swollen waters of the Bronx and its low 
marshes. Troops, chiefly militia, were posted on 
that height to the number of nearly fifteen hun- 
dred, and were under the command of General 
Alexander M'Dougall. Sir William Howe had 
followed Washington, marching his army directly 
forward, and exhibiting an intention to force him 
to a general action. The region, beautiful at all 
times, was now presenting that rich and varied 
brief appearance when the year has ripened and 
is near its close : and, instead of autumn, brings 

^ Now called Rye Lake. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 411 

US the Indian summer. Over the landscape rested 
the Hght, ghmmering, low-toned haze, peculiar to 
the time; as if the earliest hour of morn still lin- 
gered and subdued the atmosphere into a harmo- 
nious spirit with the approach of fall. The eyes of 
the invading hosts looked with wonder and de- 
light upon a season new to them. The hand of 
Nature showered thickly over hill and valley a 
vivid splendor, which seemed to reflect the change- 
able hues of the luminous sky above them. The 
daylight has its sunset, — the American year has 
its closing glory also. It is when the leaves in 
our own autumn borrow, as it were, the colors of 
the rainbow, and, like the fabled creature, the 
year fades out of life in prismatic effulgence. 

On the 28th of October a battalion of Hessians 
and a British brigade advanced to cross the 
Bronx. The Hessians, unwilling to ford the tur- 
bulent waters, were erecting a bridge from bank 
to bank. Hamilton had planted on a ledge of 
rock, concealed by the heavy foliage of trees and 
shrubs, two field-pieces, which, covering the place 
where the men were at work, delivered a fire, kill- 
ing several of them, and throwing the Hessians 
there into disorder. The British troops, seeing 
this repulse, spiritedly passed through the stream 
a little way below ; rushed, with fixed bayonets, up 
towards the hill to capture the field-pieces, reeled 
before a close and sharp fire from the American 



412 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

infantry, and were compelled to fall back upon 
their advancing supports. The bridge during 
that time was completed, and the Hessians went 
over and, joining the British troops, formed in 
good order, caught the ardor of their impetuous 
courage, ascended the acclivity, and, after a short 
but severe fight, drove the American militia from 
the position on those heights. While the militia, 
quite new to service, were scattering, a part of 
M'Dougall's brigade, most of the infantry, and 
Hamilton's battery, retired over the hill to the 
protected road leading to the entrenched camp in 
their rear. This was the engagement known as 
the battle of White Plains, or " Chatterton's Hill." ^ 
There was no pursuit. The British force lay 
that night on its arms. Howe, who had taken a 
precise view of W^ashington's main and fortified 
hold, judged that it was too strong to be at- 
tempted by assault ; and so the attack which he 
at his first onset meditated, was delayed for sev- 
eral days awaiting a reenforcement from Earl 
Percy, who was at Harlem, and then further de- 
layed by sudden and heavy rains. This cessation 
of hostility gave to Washington such an opportu- 
nity as that which occurred at Long Island. In 

1 ^^2iXks.'' Life of Washington, \o\. i, pp. 210, 211 ; Marshall's 
Life of Washington, \o\. I, pp. 11 2-1 14; Hamilton's History of 
the Republic, vol. i, pp. 133, 134 ; Bancroft's History of the United 
States, vol. 9, pp. 165-182. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 413 

the night-time all the Americans went to other 
stations on the hills in their rear ; and there again 
fortified. Washington became more capable to 
defend and protect his army. So circumspectly 
and carefully was this retirement performed, that 
the fact of its full accomplishment was the earliest 
intimation which the British commander received 
that Washington was safe and beyond his power. 
Then Howe instantly determined not to venture a 
dislodgment of the Americans from their formid- 
able entrenchments among those hills; and his plan 
for a general engagement was thrown aside. He 
began at once to retire his army to the neighbor- 
hoods near the Hudson River and Kingsbridge.^ 
Washington believed, at the first, that this was a 
scheme to entice him from the strong places in 
the hills. He clung to his new encampment until, 
at length, circumstances clearly convinced him 
that the British were in truth retracing their 
march, and probably with design to capture Fort 
Washington, pass over the Hudson into the Jer- 
seys, and, not unlikely, endeavor to reach and take 
Philadelphia. The first point of the design was 
swiftly and unexpectedly achieved. The treason 
and desertion of an adjutant had prepared the 
way.^ On the i6th of November, after a most 

^ Marshall's Life of Washington, vol. i, pp. 114, 115. 
2 The most circumstantial and complete account of this assault 
is one in an article entitled Mount Washington and its Capture, 



414 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

resolute and gallant defense, lasting from four to 
five hours, Fort Washington was surrendered to 
assaulting parties, chiefly of Hessians under Gen- 
eral Knyphausen, and its entire garrison taken 
prisoners. 

This was the severest blow which had yet come 
to the revolutionary cause; and it came seem- 
ingly at a time most unfavorable to the expecta- 
tions of the American commander. He had but 
two days before arrived at Fort Lee ; having 
crossed the river into the Jerseys, after a tour, 
with his officers, inspecting the defenses in and 
about the Highlands of the Hudson. He, with 
General Greene, watched the assaults and saw 

written by Mr. E. F. De Lancey, and published in The Magazine of 
American History, for February, 1877, PP- 65-90. Speaking of 
the Hessians, Mr. De Lancey, with accuracy and commendable his- 
torical candor, states that their officers "were all noblemen. None 
but nobles could hold commissions under any German sovereign 
then, any more than they can now. The military services of Ger- 
many and Austria are the most aristocratic in Europe in 1876, as 
they were in 1776. As far as birth was concerned, the Hessian 
officers as a whole in Howe's army were superior to the English 
officers as a whole. A rich middle class Englishman could buy a 
commission for a son, and it was often done, by favor of the Horse 
Guards, for the express purpose of making the youth ' a gentleman.' 
The Hessian officers in America were polite, courteous, well-bred 
gentlemen, educated soldiers, and in the social circles of the time 
great favorites. As military men they were the best in Europe at 
that period. And of this we can have no stronger proof than the 
fact that to one of these very Hessians, or German soldiers, did the 
Continental army owe all the tactics and discipline it ever pos- 
sessed — Baron de Steuben." 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 415 

from the summit of the Palisades the enemy take 
Fort Washington. Howe did not on this occa- 
sion pause, but followed his success ; and Lord 
Cornwallis, with a large detachment, landed on 
the Jersey side, about six miles farther up the 
Hudson than where Fort Lee is situate, gained 
with artillery the rising grounds there, and set out 
on a march down through the country between 
the Hudson and the Hackensack Rivers. The 
garrison at Fort Lee speedily withdrew to the 
main body of the American Army near the Hack- 
ensack village ; and there and then began that 
rapid, orderly, and memorable series of elusions 
and retreats of the American Army to Newark, to 
Brunswick, to Princeton, to Trenton, closely pur- 
sued by Lord Cornwallis, and then, crossing the 
river, safely encamped on the west bank of the 
Delaware. 

Once during this retreat some of the rear 
troops of the American Army were overtaken 
and brought into a short skirmish. We have 
here another glance at Hamilton. As those 
troops were passing over the Raritan River by 
the ford near Brunswick, the advance of the Brit- 
ish came in view and began firing upon them. 
Washington stood on an elevation of the river's 
bank, watching with anxiety the exposed position 
of his soldiers to the fire. His attention was soon 
drawn to the brilliant courage and admirable skill 



4i6 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

displayed by a young officer of artillery who di- 
rected a battery, keeping the advancing force in 
check, and affording protection to the retreat. 
Washington ordered Lieutenant-colonel Fitzger- 
ald, one of his aids-de-camp, to learn who that 
officer was, and bid him come to the headquarters 
at the first halt? 

Scarcely half the American troops had time to 
reach Princeton before Howe himself, swiftly fol- 
lowing, entered Brunswick. As the remainder 
of the troops came up and went into Princeton, 
we are presented with one of the most lively and 
descriptive individual portraitures which has been 
preserved of Hamilton in his early career. " Well 
do I remember the day," we are told by one who 
saw what he relates, " when Hamilton's company 
marched into Princeton. It was a model of dis- 
cipline; at their head was a boy, and I wondered 
at his youth ; but what was my surprise, when 
struck with his slight figure, he was pointed out 
to me as that Hamilton of whom we had already 
heard so much." "I noticed," says another, "a 
youth, a mere stripling, small, slender, almost deli- 
cate in frame, with a cocked hat pulled down over 
his eyes, apparently lost in thought, with his hand 
resting on a cannon, and every now and then pat- 

^ Recollections, etc., of Washington, by his adopted son, Custis, 
pp. 344, 345- 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 417 

ting it, as if it were a favorite horse or a pet play- 
thing/'^ 

None of the British crossed the Delaware ; but 
were afterwards posted chiefly at Brunswick, 
Princeton, Trenton, and Burlington. Washing- 
ton encamped, the loth of December, near the 
falls of the Trenton. Here he determined to 
make a stand and act on the aggressive. The pur- 
sued but not defeated army had struggled man- 
fully with the angel of Adversity; and, by that 
discipline, strength and hope came to them. But 
it was, indeed, a gloomy time for the country, 
and whatever light there was shone in encircling 
darkness. The British arms were in possession 
of Rhode Island, Long Island, the City of New 
York, Staten Island, nearly all of the Jerseys. The 
enemy was gathering in power on the east bank 
of the Delaware to invade Pennsylvania and enter 
Philadelphia. Whatever may have been W^ash- 
ington s apprehensions, he presented to every one 
composure of manner and active presence of mind. 
He encouraged more than ever the belief that there 
could be but one result to the struggle, and that 
ultimately favorable to independence. What will 
he do if the enemy take Philadelphia } he was 
asked. " We will retreat," he answered, " beyond 
the Susquehanna River, and thence, if necessa- 
ry, to the Alleghany Mountains." He knew the 

^ Irving's Life of Washington, vol. 3, p. 88. 
27 



41 8 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

temperament of the American people ; the deep 
and pervading principle of the controversy ; the re- 
sources of the confederated States; misfortunes 
he esteemed as temporary: difTficulties as things to 
be overcome ; and he persuaded himself, and per- 
suaded others, that the fate of the new nation was 
in its own keeping. He was then about to give 
an instance that his confidence was not mistaken. 
Indeed, the crisis required an afifirmative proof 
and conspicuous example. 

From the day that Washington crossed the 
Delaware his thoughts were directed to devising 
some means by which he might retrieve loss of 
men and territory, and check, if not overcome 
and beat back, the enemy. He resolved, finally, 
to venture upon the experiment of suddenly re- 
crossing the Delaware, and attacking them upon 
their own ground. The project was daring, but 
not without urgent cause. He had reason to 
suppose that the British would attempt to come 
over the river at some lower point, and bring all 
their force to bear, at once, upon Philadelphia. 
The Congress itself had anticipated that this was 
the plan, and had retired to Baltimore, putting 
the Susquehanna as well as the Delaware be- 
tween that body and the enemy. Notwithstand- 
ing the jealousy with which its members generally 
regarded the danger of a military ascendency, 
they, in this alarming aspect of circumstances, in- 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 419 

vested Washington with powers so extensive as 
to constitute him in all respects a Dictator, in the 
Roman meaning of the office.^ At Trenton were 
posted three regiments of Hessians, they who 
were in the assaults upon Chatterton's Hill and in 
the capturing of Fort Washington. Those troops 
were foreign mercenaries ; well commanded by 
their own countrymen, distinguished for experi- 
ence as soldiers and the culture and habits of 
gentlemen. Prejudice has attached unjust ob- 
loquy to their name. 

Christmas night was chosen for the execution 
of the project. At dusk those of the Continental 
troops selected for the special service, under the 
direct command of Washington in person, began 
to make their way in boats, through the floating 
masses of ice, towards the opposite banks. Snow 
and hail fell heavily during the whole time. The 
Hessians, yet under the influence of a Christmas ca- 
rousal, were driven from the protection of the 
town, intercepted in their retreating by a body of 
men who had been sent, on landing, to the back 
of the town, and, surrounded by the assaulting 
parties, all of them surrendered as prisoners. 
Colonel Rahl, their gallant commander, was mor- 
tally wounded. Before leaving Trenton, Washing- 
ton, accompanied by General Greene, visited the 
dying Hessian commander, and offered him such 
marks of respectful attention and consolation as 

^ Sparks' Life of Washington, vol. 4, pp. 550-552. 



420 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

become the victor and his guest. The terror of 
the Hessian name was banished by this successful 
assault. But the British main force was near by at 
Princeton and Brunswick, and Washington, think- 
ing it not advisable to hazard what he had gained 
in moral strength, besides, his men being much ex- 
hausted by fatigue, went back over the Delaware 
the same day, and entered his encampment with 
the twenty-three officers and eight hundred and 
eighty-six private soldiers taken prisoners. Then 
the other British and Hessian troops which were 
posted at Bordentown, and in its vicinity in New 
Jersey, immediately retreated to their main body ; 
the enemy's cantonments along the opposite 
banks of the Delaware were at once broken up ; 
and Washington, as soon as his soldiers were re- 
refreshed, returned and pitched his headquarters, 
December 30, at the town of Trenton. Corn- 
wallis was in New York on the eve of leaving for 
England. He quickly resumed command of the 
army in the Jerseys by special direction from 
Sir William Howe, hastened to Princeton, massed 
the army, and advanced upon Trenton. The 
Americans, as was their custom, retired to the 
high grounds. A sharp cannonade was kept up, 
principally at points where Cornwallis was at- 
tempting to cross the little stream called the 
Assapink. This was a prelude to what was ac- 
cepted by the British commander as a general 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 42 1 

engagement for the morrow. When the shades 
of night came down upon the scene the firing 
ceased, by both parties, and the British army, en- 
camped near to the village, prepared to renew the 
attack on the coming morn. Fires were kindled 
and kept brightly burning through the night by 
either army in full view of each other. Washing- 
ton was, while apparently at rest, executing one of 
his boldest and most successful strategic efforts. 
He was actually moving his whole army by a con- 
cealed march ; again eluding a superior force, 
and about to surprise a body of the enemy left at 
Princeton. A little before midnight he began 
that quiet march. All night he caused men to 
be employed in digging entrenchments so close to 
the pickets of Cornwallis's army that they could be 
heard by them at the work; and the guards of the 
Americans remained at the bridge until the break 
of day disclosed to the British that their oppo- 
nents of the previous day were vanished from the 
field. Washington reached Princeton shortly af- 
ter the sun had risen. A combat instantly was 
brought about : and the battle of Princeton was 
fought and won.^ The sound of distant guns 
was the first admonition which reached Cornwal- 
lis of his enemy's whereabouts. He hastily de- 
parted from in front of Trenton, and pursued his 
way towards Princeton : for he feared the safety 

' January 3, 1777. Bancroft's History of the United States, vol. 
9, pp. 227-256. 



42 2 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

of the magazine at Brunswick, but eighteen miles 
beyond Princeton. He had ahuost entered Prince- 
ton as the rear-guard of the American army were 
leaving it. Washington, ever prudent and never 
flushed by indiscreet zeal, forbore to prosecute his 
full original scheme, and he turned aside from the 
road that leads to Brunswick. The lines of En- 
nius, quoted by Cicero in illustration of the char- 
acter of Fabius Maximus, have never been more 
aptly used than when applied to the conduct of 
the American commander-in-chief at this instant 
in public affairs : — 

" Unus qui nobis cunctando restituit rem ; 
Non ponebat enim rumores ante salutem ; 
Ergo magisque viri nunc gloria claret." ^ 

His men had no sleep for thirty-six hours, and 
were over-fatigued from their long-continued la- 
bors and privations. Scant in food, deficient in 
raiment, chilled with the severity of winter, they 
sank down exhausted at Pluckemin and enjoyed a 
single night of rest.^ 

1 " The man who saved his country by delay, 
No tales could move him, and no envy sway ; 
And thus the laurels on his honoured brow, 
In age shall flourish, and with time shall grow." 

Cicero's Offices, chap. xxiv. p. 43 ; Edmund'' s trans. 
These verses seem to have been in high reputation with the 
Romans, for Virgil has borrowed the first of them, and applied it, 
as Cicero does, to the conduct of Fabius Maximus against Han- 
nibal. 

■^ Bancroft's History of the United States, vol.9, p. 251 ; Sparks' 
Life of Washington, vol. i, p. 233. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 423 

Washington was content. The measure of 
needed success with which Providence had blessed 
his efforts, restored the hope that was fainting. 
The enemy were driven from all their posts on 
and near the Delaware, — Cornwallis was at 
Brunswick with his troops clustered about him, — 
Philadelphia was relieved. The American Army, 
revived by that few hours of repose, marched on 
the 5th of January into Morristown, and there, 
two days afterwards, Washington established his 
winter-quarters. He did not remain, however, in- 
active : from his encampments he sent out expe- 
ditions at irregular moments, suddenly to assail 
and harrass detached parties of the enemy ; and 
these were conducted with such adroitness and 
success that soon not a British nor Hessian regi- 
ment was in the Jerseys, except those encamped 
at Brunswick and Amboy, which places had 
open communications by water with New York 
City. In Morristown, and in the near villages of 
the region, Washington and his army found com- 
fortable shelter; the rivers, woods, and mountain- 
ous character of the surrounding country, easily 
capable of defense, imparted to them the assur- 
ance of safety, and the fertile vicinity yielded 
sufficient supplies. With his largest camp in the 
Spring Valley on the southern slope of Madison 
Hill, and his outposts stretched to within three 
miles of Amboy, Washington awaited the opening 



424 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 

of the new campaign, which, as he designed, was 
to end by driving decisively all the enemy back to 
Staten Island, from whence they started the pre- 
vious August. 

" Achievements so astonishing gained for the 
American commander a very great reputation, 
and were regarded with wonder by all nations, 
as well as by the Americans. Every one ap- 
plauded the prudence, the firmness, and the daring 
of General Washington. All declared him the 
saviour of his country; all proclaimed him equal to 
the most renowned commanders of antiquity, and 
especially distinguished him by the name of the 
American Fabius. His name was in the mouths 
of all men, and celebrated by the pens of the most 
eminent writers. The greatest personages in Eu- 
rope bestowed upon him praise and congratula- 
tion. Thus the American general wanted neither 
a noble cause to defend, nor an opportunity of 
acquiring glory, nor the genius to avail himself of 
it, nor a whole generation of men competent and 
well disposed to render him homage." ^ 

Near the end of January, 1777, the most im- 
portant event of Hamilton's early public life oc- 
curred. When he appeared at headquarters on 
the route from Brunswick to Trenton, in obedi- 
ence to the request communicated to him by 

1 Botta's Storia delta Guerra deW Independenza degliStati Uniti 
dAmerica, torn. ii. lib. 7. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 425 

Lieutenant-colonel Fitzgerald, Washington saw 
that it was the same young officer of artillery 
who had previously attracted him by his intelli- 
gence at the entrenchments on Harlem Heights. 
Whether as the result of that interview or of more 
frequent interviews pending the encampment 
on the west bank of the Delaware and during the 
time they had already been near each other at 
Morristown, or whether General Greene had again 
met Hamilton in this campaign, resumed the ac- 
quaintance, his good opinion of him confirmed, 
and he conferred with Washington in regard to 
Hamilton ; or, — what is very likely, — all these 
circumstances acting at once, the fact is that he 
became the object of the commander's confidence, 
and, soon after the army went into its winter- 
quarters, Hamilton was a member of Washing- 
ton's staff and his private secretary. The story is 
best told in the words of General Greene's distin- 
guished son and biographer : ^ " Another incident 
of this time, of great importance to the common 
cause, but to Greene a bright gleam of sunshine, 
ever growing brighter and brighter as the general 
darkness thickened, was Hamilton's entrance into 
the family of the commander-in-chief as aid-de- 
camp, on the first of March. Hamilton, as has 
already been seen, had attracted Greene's atten- 
tion during the summer of 1776; but strongly as 

^ Life of General Nathaiiael Greene, vol. i, pp. 333-4- 



426 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

they were drawn towards each other, their in- 
tercourse had been controlled, during the busy 
months that followed, by their relative positions 
and duties, rather than by their inclinations. 
Now, however, it quickly ripened into friendship. 
Greene was at headquarters daily, as a counsellor 
and friend. Hamilton was always there to meet 
him as the confidential secretary of the man they 
both loved and honored. Their views seldom 
differed, if ever, both with regard to persons and 
to things, and each found in the other's mind an 
energy, an activity, a vigor of grasp, a breadth of 
comprehension, a quickness of perception, and 
a power of patient thought, which he recog- 
nized as the distinctive characteristics of his own. 
Family tradition has always represented Hamilton 
as the object of Greene's peculiar. affection ; and 
Hamilton, who lived to put his opinion of Greene 
upon record,^ bore witness to the enormous powers 

^ Eulogium on Major-General Greene, delivered by Hamilton 
before the Society of the Cincinnati, July 4, 1789. Speaking of the 
retreat through the Jerseys, he says : " As long as the measures 
which conducted us safely through the first most critical stages of 
the war shall be remembered with approbation ; as long as the en- 
terprises of Trenton and Princeton shall be regarded as the dawn- 
ings of that bright day which afterwards broke forth with such re- 
splendent lustre ; as long as the almost magic operations of the 
remainder of that memorable winter, distinguished not more by 
these events than by the extraordinary spectacle of a powerful 
army straitened within narrow hmits by the phantom of a military 
force, and never permitted to transgress those limits with impunity ; 
in which skill supplied the place of means, and disposition was the 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 427 

of his mind, under circumstances which would 
have made exaggeration a satire." 

It was about the same time, and the inference 
is probably right that it was before Hamilton actu- 
ally entered upon his duties as aid-de-camp, that 
Washington became aware that his young secre- 
tary was the author of the anonymous communi- 
cation which he received just before the battle at ^ 
Long Island. Hamilton, it seems, had crossed 
over to Brooklyn, and thence, by examining the 
position of the American forces, he became con- 
vinced that, with such materials as composed that 
army, a conflict with troops which consisted all 
of experienced soldiers, would be hopeless. Filled 
with these ideas, he wrote an anonymous letter to 
Washington, detailing many and forcible argu- 
ments against risking an action, and warmly rec- 
ommended a retreat to the strong grounds of the 
mainland. The letter excited no little surprise in 
Washinsfton's mind : but it was mino-led with re- 
spect for the ability which its acuteness displayed.^ 

Hamilton, March 6, 1777, addressed from 

substitute for an army ; as long, I say, as these operations shall 
continue to be the objects of curiosity and wonder, so long ought 
the name of Greene to be revered by a grateful country. To at- 
tribute to him a portion of the praise which is due, as well to the 
formation as to the execution of the plans that effected these im- 
portant ends, can be no derogation from that wisdom and magna- 
nimity which knew how to select and embrace councils worthy ol 
being pursued. — Works of Hamilton^ vol. 2, pp. 483, 484. 

* Recollections^ etc., of Washington, by his adopted son, p. 344. 



42 8 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

Morristown the following letter to the New York 
Convention, then in session at Kingston, on the 
Hudson : — 

" Gentlemen, — It is necessary I should inform you of the 
changes which have happened in your Company of Artillery, 
which should have been done long ago, had I not been pre- 
vented by sickness, from which I am but lately recovered. 

General Washington has been pleased to appoint me one 

of his aids-de-camp There remain now only two 

officers, Lieutenants Bean and Thompson, and about thirty 
men. The reason that the number of men is so reduced, be- 
sides death and desertions, was owing to a breach of orders 
in Lieutenant Johnson, who first began the enlistment of the 
company \ and who, instead of engaging them during the war, 
according to the intention of the State, engaged them for the 
limited term of a twelvemonth. The time of those enlisted 
by him has expired; and for want of powers to reengage 
them, they have mostly entered into other corps. 

I have to request you will favor me with instructions as 
to your future intentions. If you design to retain the com- 
pany on the particular establishment of the State, it will be 
requisite to complete the number of officers, and make pro- 
vision to have the company filled by a new enlistment. In 
this case, I should beg leave to recommend to your notice, as 

far as a Captain-lieutenancy, Mr. Thompson But if you 

should determine to resign the company, as I expect 3^ou will, 
considering it as an extraordinary burthen, without affording 
any special advantages, the Continent will readily take it off 
your hands, so soon as you shall intimate your design to re- 
linquish it. I doubt not you will see the propriety of speedily 
deciding on the matter, which the good of the service re- 



quires." ^ 



^ Works of Hamilton, vol. i, pp. ii, 12. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 429 

Hamilton, then raised to the rank of Lieuten- 
ant-colonel, received from the Convention the fol- 
lowing answer, dated March 17^: — 

" Dear Sir, — We are to inform you, that Robert B. Liv- 
ingston is, with us, a committee appointed by Convention to 
correspond with you at Headquarters. You will give us pleas- 
ure in the information that His Excellency is recovered from 
the illness which had seized him the day before Messrs. Cuy- 
ler and Taylor left Headquarters. Any occurrences in the 
army which may have happened, you will please to commu- 
nicate. 

" In answer to your letter to the Convention, of the sixth of 
March instant, we are to inform you, that it is determined to 
permit that company to join the Continental Army, for which 
you will take the necessary steps. At the same time, you will 
take some notice of the disposition of our guns, which, as you 
well know, are all in the Continental service ; and unless 
some little attention is paid to them, we may, perhaps, never 
see them again. We are, Sir, your most obedient and hum- 
ble servants, Gouv, Morris, 

Wm. Allison." 

Thus ended the military relations of Lieutenant- 
colonel Hamilton with the State of New York. 
The remainder of his artillery company were 
merged in the Continental Army. But it will be 
observed, that he was selected by his State as 
its correspondent at Headquarters because of his 
intelligence and prudence, and for the reason of 
his being near in place and confidence to Wash- 
ington. This duty, with the knowledge of the 

1 Works of Hamiltett. \o\. i, p. 12. 



430 LIFE AND EPOCH OF 

Commander, he accepted; and then immediately 
began that interesting correspondence which dis- 
closes much concerning the inner history of the 
war for our independence. 



Here ended the youth — the early years — of 
Alexander Hamilton; if it can be said of him 
that he ever had a youth, as other men have, in 
intellectual growth and moral capacity. And 
here, with proper regard to the divisions into 
which the entire subject divides itself, closes the 
special theme of this volume. We do not pro- 
pose to enter now ^ upon the memoirs of his 
labors in diplomacy and statesmanship. But the 
outlines of those memoirs, certainly, are familiar 
to the general student of American history. They 
present the historical personage which posterity 
acknowledges as the Founder of the American 
States in Empire. 

He had passed from the service of the State of 
New York into that of the new Nation. The 
great future opened to him, A wide, indeed na- 
tional, sphere of usefulness immediately spread 
its ample domain to his aspiring thought, and 
gave occasions, at once, for the employment of 
his intuitive perception and creative power when 
he, as the young Secretary of the Commander-in- 

> See ante, Introduction. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 43 1 

chief, entered the headquarters at Morristown. 
Nothing gained was lost. Friendships already- 
made were confirmed and new, illustrious, inti- 
macies added. Those beautiful, natural traits of 
his kindly and frank spirit, cultured throughout 
his youth, — which drew to his side many and 
various aids; which influenced partisan rivals to 
almost forgive him his superb abilities in admira- 
tion of his excellent temper and conciliatory, rea- 
sonable disposition ; which made him the ever- 
welcome and cherished neighbor, companion, and 
friend, — were not neglected nor impaired in the 
success and exaltation of his after-life. He re- 
mained a grand, natural man ; free from the 
ostentation and superciliousness of inferior char- 
acters, loved by those who knew him, for his gen- 
erous, cheery, and sympathetic heart, and re- 
spected by adversaries for his magnanimity and 
justice. 

There is something very attractive to us as 
we contemplate him during those early years of 
which we have written. We confess that we like 
to think of him as he there appears, — constant 
to the purpose of a noble life. The world was 
all before him. He was not the creature of cir- 
cumstance, nor its servant. He chose his path, 
and never turned back. We are pleased when 
we think of him as the earnest student, — the 
boy that was willing to risk his life, though not 



432 LIFE AND EPOCH OF HAMILTON. 

his character, to exalt his station, — as the 3^outh 
that knew himself, confided in his own under- 
standing and strength, and yet never ventured 
beyond his ability, — as one who depended not 
on genius alone, but brought to his aid on every 
occasion the practical experience of actual knowl- 
edge, — and as the friend whose ardor no ad- 
versity could chill and whose faithfulness no re- 
verse of fortune could alienate. 



APPENDIX. 



APPENDIX. 



A. — Page 41. 

EXTRACT FROM CHANCELLOR KENT'S ADDRESS BEFORE THE 
LAW ASSOCIATION, NEW YORK, OCTOBER 21, 1836. 

" Among his brethren Hamilton was indisputably preemi- 
nent. This was universally conceded. He rose at once to 
the loftiest heights of professional eminence, by his profound 
penetration, his power of analysis, the comprehensive grasp 
and strength of his understanding, and the firmness, frank- 
ness, and integrity of his character. We may say of him, in 
reference to his associates, as was said of Papinian, omnes 
longo post se intervallo reliqiierit. A few reminiscences of the 
display of his genius and eloquence may not be uninteresting 
to the gentlemen I have now the honor to address. 

"In January, 1785, I attended, for the first time, a term of 
the Supreme Court, and Mr. Hamilton, in an interesting case 
then brought to a hearing, commanded great attention and 
applause by his powers of argument and oratory. 

"In the case I allude to. Chancellor Livingston claimed 
lands to a large amount in value, and lying on the north part 

of the County of Dutchess He carried his cause, as 

it were^ by a coup-de-main, and obtained a verdict rather by 
the force of his character, and the charm of his eloquence, 
than by the weight of evidence. In the January term follow- 
ing, a new trial was moved for, on the ground that the ver- 
dict was against evidence. I had the pleasure of being 
present at the argument, and a witness to the contest of 



436 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 

genius and eloquence between Chancellor Livingston and 
Colonel Hamilton, the master-spirits who controlled all hearts 
on that occasion, — the one contending for a new trial and 

the other resisting it The tall and graceful figure 

of Chancellor Livingston, and his polished wit and classical 
taste, contributed not a little to deepen the impression re- 
sulting from the ingenuity of his argument, the vivacity of his 
imagination, and the dignity of his station. 

" Mr. Hamilton was then at the age of twenty-seven, and 
he had never met and encountered such a distinguished oppo- 
nent. He appeared to be agitated by intense thought. His 
eyes, his lips, and his pen, were in rapid motion during the 
Chancellor's address. He rose with firmness and dignity, 
and spoke for perhaps two hours in support of his motion. 
His reply was fluent, argumentative, ardent, and accom- 
panied with great emphasis of manner and expression. It 
was marked for a searching analysis of the case, and a 
mastery of all the law and learning suitable to the subject. 
.... I have always regarded Mr. Hamilton's argument, 
near the close of his life, in the celebrated Cross-well case, as 
the greatest forensic effort he ever made. The subject was 
grave, and of lofty import. It related to the liberty of the 
press, and to the right of the jury in a criminal case, under 
the general issue, to determine the law as well as the fact. 
He never, in any case at the bar, commanded higher rev- 
erence for his principles, or equal admiration of the power 
and pathos of his eloquence. But we have not time to en- 
large on that case ; and it will be more interesting, as an 
example of the mighty powers of that great man, to take a 
general view of his efforts on a broader theatre, and not only 
as a lawyer but as a statesman, before a very dignified 
assembly, and upon the highest and noblest tojDics of polit- 
ical discussion that ever arose in this State. I am the more 
willing to recur to that history because I am apprehensive 
that the scanty memorials of the exhibition of Mr. Hamil- 



APPENDIX. ' 437 

ton's talents on that occasion are going fast into oblivion. I 
allude to the Convention which assembled at Poughkeepsie 
in the summer of 1788, to deliberate and decide on the adop- 
tion of the Federal Constitution. The intense interest with 
which the meeting of the Convention was anticipated and 
regarded can hardly be conceived at this day, and much less 
adequately described. I then resided in that village, and 
was enabled and induced to attend the Convention as a 
spectator, daily and steadily during the entire six weeks of 
its session, and I was of course an eye and ear witness to 
everything of a public nature that was said or done. The 
Convention was composed of sixty-five members, and not one 
of them remains a survivor at this day. That bright and 
golden age of the Republic may now be numbered ' with the 
years beyond the flood,' and I am left in comparative soli- 
tude." 



APPENDIX B, page 306. 

In the Name of the holy and undivided Trinity, 
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, One God blessed for 
ever ; Amen : — 

The wise and gracious Providence of this mercifuU God, 
having put it into the hearts of the Christians of the Episcopal 
persuasion in Connecticut in North America, to desire that the 
Blessings of a free, valid and purely Ecclesiastical Episco- 
pacy, might be communicated to them, and a Church regularly 
formed in that part of the western world upon the most an- 
tient, and primitive Model : And application having been 
made for this purpose, by the Reverend Dr. Samuel Seabury, 
Presbyter in Connecticut, to the Right Reverend the Bishops 
of the Church in Scotland : The said Bishops having taken 
this proposal into their serious Consideration, most heartily 



43^ APPENDIX. 

concurred to promote and encourage the same, as far as lay in 
their power ; and accordingly began the pious and good work 
recommended to them, by complying with the request of the 
Clergy in Connecticut, and advancing the said Dr. Samuel 
Seabury to the high Order of the Episcopate ; At the same 
time earnestly praying that this Work of the Lord thus hap- 
pily begun might prosper in his hands, till it should please the 
great and glorious Head of the Church, to increase the num- 
ber of Bishops in America, and send forth more such Labour- 
ers into that part of his Harvest. — Animated with this pious 
hope, and earnestly desirous to establish a Bond of peace, and 
holy Communion, between the two Churches, the Bishops of 
the Church in Scotland, whose names are underwritten, having 
had full and free Conference with Bishop Seabur}^, after his 
Consecration and Advancement as aforesaid, agreed with him 
on the following Articles, which are to ser\'e as a Concord- 
ate, or Bond of Union, between the Catholic remainder of the 
antient Church of Scotland, and the now rising Church in the 
State of Connecticut. 

Art. I. They agree in thankfully receiving, and humbly and 
heartily embracing the whole Doctrine of the Gospel, as re- 
vealed and set forth in the holy Scriptures : and it is their 
earnest and united Desire to maintain the Analogy of the 
common Faith, once delivered to the Saints, and happily pre- 
served in the Church of Christ, thro his divine power and 
protection, who promised that the Gates of Hell should never 
prevail against it. 

Art. n. They agree in believing this Church to be the 
mystical Body of Christ, of which he alone is the Head, and 
supreme Governour, and that under him, the chief Ministers, 
or Managers of the Affairs of this spiritual Society, are those 
called Bishops, whose Exercise of their sacred Office being 
independent on all Lay powers, it follows of consequence, 
that their spiritual Authority and Jurisdiction cannot be af- 
fected by any Lay-Deprivation. 



APPENDIX. 439 

Art. III. They agree in declaring that the Episcopal 
Church in Connecticut is to be in full Communion with the 
Episcopal Church in Scotland, it being their sincere Resolu- 
tion to put matters on such a footing, as that the Members of 
both Churches may with freedom and safety communicate 
with either, when their Occasions call them from the one 
Country to the other : Only taking Care when in Scotland 
not to hold Communion in sacred Offices with those persons, 
who under pretence of Ordination by an English, or Irish 
Bishop, do, or shall take, upon them, to officiate as Clergymen 
in any part of the National Church of Scotland, and whom 
the Scottish Bishops cannot help looking upon, as schismat- 
ical Intruders, designed only to answer worldly purposes, and 
uncommissioned Disturbers of the poor Remains of that once 
flourishing Church, which both their predecessors and they, 
have, under many Difficulties, labored to preserve pure and 
uncorrupted to future Ages. 

Art. IV. With a view to the salutary purpose mentioned in 
the preceding Article, they agree in desiring that there may 
be as near a Conformity in Worship, and Discipline estab- 
lished between the two Churches as is consistent with the 
different Circumstances and Customs of Nations : And in 
order to avoid any bad effects that might otherwise arise from 
political Differences, they hereby express their earnest Wish 
and firm Intention to observe such prudent Generality in their 
public Prayers, with respect to these points, as shall appear 
most agreeable to Apostolic Rules, and the practice of the 
primitive Church. 

Art. V. As the Celebration of the holy Eucharist, or the 
Administration of the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of 
Christ, is the principal Bond of Union among Christians, as 
well as the most Solemn Act of Worship in the Christian 
Church, the Bishops aforesaid agree in desiring that there 
may be as little Variance here as possible. And tho' the 
Scottish Bishops are very far from prescribing to their Breth- 



440 APPENDIX. 

ren in this matter, they cannot help ardently wishing that 
Bishop Seabury would endeavour all he can consistently with 
peace and prudence, to make the Celebration of this vener- 
able Mystery conformable to the most primitive Doctrine and 
practice in that respect : Which is the pattern the Church of 
Scotland has copied after in her Communion Office, and 
which it has been the Wish of some of the most eminent Di- 
vines of the Church of England that she also had more closely 
followed, than she seems to have done since she gave up her 
first reformed Liturgy used in the Reign of King Edward VI. \ 
between which, and the form used in the Church of Scotland, 
there is no Difference in any point, which the primitive 
Church reckoned essential to the right Ministration of the 
holy Eucharist. — In this capital Article therefore of the Eu- 
charistic Service, in which the Scottish Bishops so earnestly 
wish for as much Unity as possible, Bishop Seabury also 
agrees to take a serious View of the Communion Office recom- 
mended by them, and if found agreeable to the genuine Stand- 
ards of Antiquity, to give his Sanction to it, and by gentle 
Methods of Argument and Persuasion, to endeavour, as they 
have done, to introduce it by degrees into practice without 
the Compulsion of Authority on the one side, or the prejudice 
of former Custom on the other. 

Art. VI. It is also hereby agreed and resolved upon for the 
better answering the purposes of this Concordate, that a 
brotherly fellowship be henceforth maintained between the 
Episcopal Churches in Scotland and Connecticut, and such a 
mutual Intercourse of Ecclesiastical Correspondence carried 
on, when Opportunity offers, or necessity requires as may 
tend to the Support, and Edification of both Churches. 

Art. VII. The Bishops aforesaid do hereby jointly declare, 
in the most solemn manner, that in the whole of this Transac- 
tion, they have nothing else in view, but the Glory of God, 
and the good of his Church ; And being thus pure and up- 
right in their Intentions, they cannot but hope, that all whom 



APPENDIX. 441 

it may concern, will put the most fair and candid constmction 
on their Conduct, and take no Offence at their feeble, but sin- 
cere Endeavours to promote what they believe to be the Cause 
of Truth, and of the common Salvation. 

In Testimony of their Love to which, and in mutual good 
Faith and Confidence, they have for themselves, and their 
Successors in Office cheerfully put their Names and Seals to 
these presents at Aberdeen this fifteenth day of November, 
in the year of our Lord, one thousand, seven hundred, and 
eighty-four. 

Robert Kilgour, Bishop & Primus, [seal.] 
Arthur Petrie, Bishop, [seal.] 
John Skinner, Jr., Bishop, [seal.] 
Samuel Seabury, Bishop, [seal.] 



INDEX. 



INDEX. 



Adams (Abigail), letter of, to her husband on failure of Penn's 
mission, 357, note 2. 

Adams (Charles Francis), his conduct as Minister to England, 137; 
and quoted, 137, notej influence of James Otis, 228, note 2. 

Adams (John), opinion favorable to English constitution, 12; de- 
scription of Franklin and Voltaire at the Academy, 29, note j 
aptitude of American intellect, 52 ; suspects the good faith of 
Vergennes, 64 ; presents memorial to Court of St. James, 67, 
120, 121 ; censures States' neglect of public debts, 116; fails 
to get a commercial treaty with England, 120 ; interviews with 
George III., 121, 127, and note; meets with "dry decency," 
122; presented by Lord Mansfield, 130; interview with Os- 
wald, 133; foils Vergennes' scheme, 134, 135 ; member of the 
Sodality, 170 ; Enghsh constitution best form of government, 
192, note J anecdote of George III., 197, note 2\ Dickinson's 
rudeness to Adams, 318, ttote, 260; opposes Penn's mission, 
280 ; letter to his wife on Washington's appointment, 282 ; 
Mrs. Adams' letter on failure of Penn's mission, 357, tiote 2 : 
origin of American navy, 372, note 2. 

Adams (Samuel), 229, 237, 239, and note, 241 ; hope of, fulfilled, 
260. 

"Adolphus' History of England" quoted, 312, note; 323, note. 

Agents, colonial, appointed to England, 204, 205, and note i ; ask 
to be examined by Parliament, 272. 

Alfred the Great, 23; constitutional principles of, restored, 186. 

American Revolution, an epoch, see Introduction, i. ; engendered 
great thoughts and actions, 185. 

" American uniform " worn by Fox and Burke in Parliament, 64, 
6s ; Webster, 64, 65 ; probable origin of its colors, 384, and 
note 3. 



446 INDEX. 

Ames (Fisher), his denunciation of neglect in paying public debts, 
125. 

Aranda (Duke of), advised by Talleyrand to study the " Federal- 
ist," 37 ; remarkable interview with Jay and La Fayette, 131. 

Aristotle, quoted, 157, and note; favorite author with Hamilton, 
157, 172; his "Politics," 180. 

Arnold (Benedict), Burr, brigade-major to, 402, and note 2. 

Army, dangerous meeting of its officers, 70 ; address of Washing- 
ton to, 70. 

Asia, British war-ship, 350 ; fires on New York, 352, 353, 354, 357 ; 
anger of people at, 354 ; provisioned from New York, 356 ; in- 
dignation at, 356, 357, 368. 

Assembly, old Colonial of New York, dissolved, 289 ; its character 
and power, 290, 291 ; Seabury's influence upon, 298, 299; ob- 
sequiousness of the body, 298, 299. 

Bacon (Lord), quoted, 179; his "Essays," favorite book with 
Hamilton, 179. 

Balance of power in Italian States, 16. 
• " Bancroft's History of United States," quoted, 87, 92, 346, 7iote, 
384, note 2. 

Bard (Drs. John and Samuel), 179, and note i ; Hamilton studies 
medicine with Samuel, 179. 

Bayard (Nicholas, a deputy), public records at his house, 389. 

Berkeley (Bishop), prophecy as to America, 193 ; verses quoted, 
193, ntte I, 293 ; Seabury preaches in his pulpit, 307. 

" Bigelow's Life of Franklin," quoted, 29 ; the scene at " the Cock- 
pit," 207, and note 2. 

" Blackstone's Commentaries on Law of England," general study 
of, in the revolutionary epoch, 52 ; quoted, 57 ; widely read in 
America, 88 ; on omnipotence of Parliament, 88, 89. 

"Blackwood's Magazine " praises the " Federalist," 37. 

Bolingbroke (Lord), 36 ; his " Patriot King," 51. 

Boston, evacuated by British army, 369, 370. 

Boston "Port Bill," brings controversy to practical issue, 201. 

"Boswell's Life of Samuel Johnson," cited, 272, note i ; Flora Mac- 
donald, 346, note. 

" Botta's History of, etc., the United States of America," quoted, 
423, 424. 



INDEX. 447 

" Bouchier's View, etc., of American Revolution," cited, 252, note. 

Boudinot (Elias), early friend of Hamilton, 173; letter to Lord 
Stirling about Hamilton, 387. 

" Brodie's Constitutional History," quoted, 90, 91. 

Brougham (Henry, Lord), quoted, 61. 

"Buckle's History of Civilization," quoted, 52, note; English lib- 
erty protected by American revolt, 60, 61, note; cited, 171, 
note I. 

Bunker Hill, battle of ; effects of, 278, 282, 283, 319, 369. 

Burgoyne (General), 319. 

Burke (Edmund), consults interests, not opinions, of constituents, 
24, 25 ; style compared with Hamilton's, 36 ; on character of the 
American intellect, 50 ; study of law in America, 51, 7Wte, 61 ; 
speech on conciliation, 85 ; on " Blackstone's Commentaries," 
Z% ; agent of New York, 203, and note ; correspondence with 
Assembly on Quebec Bill, 198, 199 ; quoted, 233, 234, 238, 
note, 22,7, 265 ; states the principle of the colonial question, 
267 ; presents remonstrance from New York, 272, 273, 274, 
290 ; speeches on America, 334 ; quoted, 407. 

Burleigh (Lord), his business method, 150, note. 

Burr (Aaron), visits Talleyrand, 32, 33 ; present with Hamilton at 
Cincinnati dinner, 381, notey first acquaintance with Hamil- 
ton, 400, 401 ; biographical notice of, career and character, 
400-409 ; not with Montgomery personally at Quebec, 402 ; 
his insubordination, 402, note 2 ; affair with Margaret Mon- 
crieffe, 404, 405. 

Burr (Esther, the mother of Aaron Burr), 401, 402. 

Burr (President of Princeton College), 401. 

Butler (Charles), his Reminiscences, quoted, 56, note. 

C^SAR, method of working, 150. 
Calonne, consults Mirabeau on finance, 26. 
Canada, invasions and motives of, 347, 370, 371, 381, 382. 
Canadians (French), rivals of New England colonies, 189, 322. 
Camden (Lord), 269. 

Campaign in New York and New Jersey of 1776-1777, 376-378. 
Carroll (Archbishop of Baltimore), colonial agent to Canada, 327, 
note. 



448 INDEX. 

Catholic Emancipation, 185, 189; Wellington's early speech on, 
324, and note. 

Caucus, JefEerson and Madison nominated by, i, 7iote i. 

Celtic colonists of Georgia and Carolinas, 345. 

Centralized government, colonists' dread of, 78, 83. 

Cerrachi's bust of Hamilton, 32. 

Chandler (Rev. Dr.), joins Seabury, 295, 297. 

Chatham (Earl of), error imputed to him for acquiring Canada, 
56, and note J that error sought to be redressed, 56 ; opinion of, 
61, note; name of Fort DuQuesne changed, and statue erected 
in his honor, 190 ; letter from Shelburne, 261, notej opinions 
on American affairs, 263, 264 ; encomium on Congress of 1774, 
264, 265, and note; reports of, 264, 265 ; his plan for adjust- 
ment of controversy rejected, 272, 290 ; Vergennes, 323, note i. 

Chatterton's Hill, fight at, 411, 412. 

Church (Dean of St. Paul's Cathedral), quoted, 49, 305. 

Cincinnati, Society of, 86; popular hostility to, 86; Mirabeau's 
pamphlet on, 87. 

Civilians, study of their works among colonists, 171. 

Clay (Henry), reviver of Hamilton's principles for industrial pro- 
tection, 21, note. 

Clergy of the Church of England, why they felt special interest in 
the colonial revolt, 251-253. 

Clinton (George, Governor of New York), leads opposition to Na- 
tionahsts, 18, 108, 114, 273 ; great influence of, 290. 

Clive (Robert, Lord), 158. 

Cochrane (Mrs. Catherine V. R.), Hamilton's sister-in-law, de- 
scribes him to the author, 45, note; first meeting of Hamilton 
and Burr, 401, and note. 

" Cockpit," scene at, between Franklin and Wedderburn, 207, note 2. 

Coffee-House, meetings at, 310, 316, note. 

Coke (Sir Edward), on omnipotence of Parliament, 88. 

Colonies (North American), political history of, 79-100. 

Colonists (American), their moral, intellectual, religious character, 
47-60, 79-100 ; not mere theorists, 58 ; leaders of, compared 
to the Girondists, 60 : attracted attention of Europe, 60 ; loyal 
feelings of towards England, 96, 130 ; Celts of Georgia and 
Carolinas, 345, 346, and note, 366, note. 



INDEX. 449 

Coleman (William), edits under Hamilton's direction, 259, and Jiotej 
anecdote of Hamilton's mode of assisting him to edit, 259. 

Columbia College, 386, tiote. 

Columbus, comparison as to faith in a principle, 19, 20. 

Comines (Philip de), cited on the English constitution, 22. 

Committee of Fifty-one, 247, 289; of One Hundred, 310. 

Committee of Safety, 355 ; controlling influence of, 356, 368 ; writes 
to Gen. Lee, 362, 363 ; his conciliating answer, 363, 364 ; Lee 
acts with, 366 ; they take King's College for military uses, 385, 
386, note J cooperates with Washington, 386. 

Commonwealths, not competent for permanent government, 1 1 ; 
nature of, 12. 

Conciliation, efforts for, by colonies, 204-207 ; ministry's plan to 
conquer a, 269 ; Grattan's expression of the American princi- 
ple of resistance, 286 ; conciliatory spirit of the colonies, 373, 
and note i, 

Concordate, 435-439. 

Condorcet, describes Voltaire's benediction upon Franklin's grand- 
son, 28. 

Confederation of American States, 67; its incompetency, 68, 93, 
94 ; described, 68, 69, 93, 94 ; it dies out, 72 ; formed in 1777, 
98, 99. 

Congress, first, 97 ; its high character, 97, 98 ; second Congress, 
97, 98 ; that of 1780, 108 ; of 1783, in ; instance of represen- 
tative government feasible, 195, note j decisive effects of Con- 
gress of 1774 on the American cause, 200 ; first brings Hamil- 
ton into public life, 200 ; conciliatory purpose of its origin, 
209-211 ; acknowledged by, and first important act of, relates 
to New York, 317, 319; Congress of 1774 and I77'5 try to con- 
ciHate Quebec, 323, 324 ; acts of 1774, 273, 289, 312 ; Congress 
of 1775, 274, 286, 313, 317; recommends troops to be raised, 
351 ; renewed apathy of Congress as to the provinces and 
Washington, 367, 368 ; advises the Colonies to adopt adequate 
governments, 374 ; its necessary result, independence, 374. 

Constitutional conventions, at Philadelphia, 1787, 17, 24, 25, 73; 
at Annapolis, 1787, 18 ; at Versailles, 25 ; at Poughkeepsie, 81. 

"Constitutional war," the real character of the American revolt, 
277, note. 

29 



450 INDEX. 

• 
Continental army, dissolved, 70. 

" Continentalist," papers written by Hamilton, 109. 

Conway (General), 265 ; his speech on Boston Port Bill, 268. 

Cooper (Dr. Myles), President of King's College, 175 ; doubted 
Hamilton's authorship of first anonymous pamphlet, 257, 258 ; 
discussion with Hamilton, 257, 258, note 2 ; remonstrates 
against conduct of students, 353 ; aided by Hamilton he es- 
capes a mob, 354, and notej popular animosity to, 385. 

Convention of States, Hamilton drafts, in 1783, a resolution for, 109. 

Cornwallis (Lord), at Trenton, 420, 421, 422. 

Cromwellian era not advisable for America, 11. 

Cruger (Nicholas), Hamilton enters counting-house of, 150; great 
confidence in Hamilton's ability, 151 ; setdes in New York, 
176; Samuel Bard marries his daughter, 179, ?iote i. 

"Curtis'" (George Ticknor), "History of Constitution," quoted, 
35, note. 

Debt, the public, an obstruction to union, 91, 92 ; La Fayette's 
letter, 115; Adams', 116; Washington's, 116-118. 

De Lancey (Edward F.), quoted, 414. 

Democracy, invincibility of, under republican institutions, 15. 

De Montfort, 11, 278. 

De Retz (Cardinal), quoted, 406, note 2. 

De Witt (John), 42 ; method of working, 150. 

Dickinson (John), letters of Pennsylvania Farmer, 203, note I ; 
author of address to the Province of Quebec, 237 ; in favor of 
Penn's mission, 280, 283 ; eager for conciliatory projects, 318, 
319; affronts John Adams, 318, 319. 

Dryden, quoted, 175, note 2, 406. 

Duane (James), Hamilton's letter to, 93, 104, 106, 108. 

Dulany (Daniel, of Maryland, advocate), an " oracle " of the law, 
171, note 2. 

Dunmore (Governor of Virginia), declares martial law, 346. 

Dupanloup (Bishop of Orleans), when Abb^, attends Talleyrand 
on his death-bed, 34, Vw^^y anecdote as to use of word "di- 
vine," 34, note. 

Edict of Nantes, effect of, upon emigration to America, 81. 
" Edinburgh Review," quoted as to merit of the " Federalist," 37. 



INDEX. 45 1 

Edwards (Jonathan), 401. 

Ellsworth (Oliver, Chief Justice), with Hamilton on committee to 
prepare address of Congress of 1783, 112. 

English Constitution, the most natural " model " for America, 1 1 ; 
Washington, Adams, Hamilton, Jay, of that opinion, 1 1 ; Tal- 
leyrand, 22 ; De Comines, 22 ; De Lolme, 22. 

English Ministry, misconceived and imperious spirit of, 208, 275, 
276. 

Ennius, lines of, quoted, 422, and note. 

" Entangling Alliances," see Vergennes and France, 

Episcopal Order, established in America, 185 ; dread of, by colo- 
nists, 294 ; causes of its opposition to the Revolution, 294, 
295, and note. 

Epoch, American, see Introduction j a new order of men ap- 
peared, 54; not an age of progress, but restoration, 54, 55 ; 
the leaders not mere theorists, 58 ; notion of " Social Con- 
tract " repudiated by, 59 ; its great results, 185. 

Erskine (Thomas, Lord), Hamilton's manner as forensic orator 
compared with, 41 ; argument in Dean of St. Asaph's case, 
reproduction of Andrew Hamilton's argument, 62, 218. 

"Federalist," translation of, published 1792, in Paris, 33 ; style 
of, 36 ; " Edinburgh Review " and " Blackwood's Magazine " 
laud the work, 37 ; Talleyrand's opinion of, 37 ; three editions 
published in France, 37 ; yohn C. Hamilton'' s edition com- 
mended, 37, note J judgments of the Supreme Court, commen- 
taries upon, 39 ; describes the Confederacy of the States, 68 ; 
quoted, 250, 251. 

Fish (Hamilton, Senator, and Secretary of State), cited, 177, and 
note 3 ; 358, note 2. 

Fish (Nicholas, Colonel), member of debating-club with Hamilton, 
176, 358, and note 2 ; executor of his will, 178, 382 ; biograph- 
ical sketch of, 383, note i ; brigade-major, 388. 

" Fitzmaurice's Life of Shelburne," quoted, 277, tiote. 

Fitzwalter and De Montfort, il. 

Flahaut (Count de), 315, 7tote j and see Souza. 

Fleming (Major), 382 ; instructs Hamilton, 383, 384. 

Fort Washington, 372 ; capture of, 413 ; a severe blow to Ameri- 
can cause, 414. 



452 INDEX. 

Fox (Charles James), 30 ; opinion of, 61, note j friendly to recog- 
nition of American Independence, 64, 265. 

France, project of, for subjection of the United States to its own 
national aggrandizement, 131-135 ; map which accompanied 
the proposition to England, 134 ; French Canadians, rivals of 
New England, 189, 322. 

France, selfish purpose of, in aiding American Revolution, 63, 64. 

Francis (Sir Phihp), suggestion as to his authorship of " Junius' 
Letters," loi, note. 

Franklin (Benjamin), gives Jefferson an account of Lord North's 
conduct, 10, note 2 ; masses of mankind incline to monarchy, 
9, note J scene at The Academy with Voltaire, 29, note; and 
with Condorcet, 29, note; portrait of, at Ferney, 29, note; 
Mirabeau's pamphlet on the "Cincinnati," 87 ; at Convention 
of Colonies, 1754, at Albany, 96 ; letter to John Jay on Eng- 
lish representations after the peace, 121, note; knew Dr. John 
Bard, 179, note; project for British Empire in America, 192- 
195, and note ; appointed Colonial Agent, 205 ; advises a Gen- 
eral Congress, 210, 211 ; Pownall and Franklin coincide on 
opinion of a British Empire in America, 262, 263 ; friendly 
with Chatham, 264, note; at the Congress of 1754, 267, and 
note ; asks to be examined by Parliament, 272 ; at the Con- 
gress of 1775, 274, 275 ; letters to Priestley and Hartley, 284, 
285. 

" Freeman's Growth of the English Constitution," quoted, 57, 
note, 57. 

Gage (General), supersedes Governor Hutchinson, 202 ; no im- 
provement upon, 202, 203, and note; Sparks examines, in Lon- 
don, his dispatches, 203, note; receives instructions to take 
aggressive measures, 277 ; defeated at Lexington and Con- 
cord, 278. 

Gates (General Horatio), at army meeting, 70. 

Gay (Sydney Howard), his "History of United States" com- 
mended, 78, 80, note. 

George II., declines to tax America, 196; or introduce the Epis- 
copal order, 308. 

George III., his remarks, in 17S8, to John Adams, about the 



INDEX. 453 

treaty, 121 ; ill-timed slight to Jefferson and Adams, 127; sat- 
irized as responsible for American Independence, 130; his 
sturdy conduct beneficial to America, 135 ; earliest note on 
America, to Lord North, 204; character of, 196; his reign ar- 
bitrary, 196. 

Gerry (Elbridge), cited, 228, note 2. 

Gloucester (Dr. Tucker, Dean of), opinion of Franklin's plan for 
a British Empire, 194, tiote. 

Goethe, quoted, as to destruction of tea at Boston, 208. 

" Goodrich's Recollections," quoted, as to Bishop Seabury, 308, 
tiote. 

Government, science of, exemplified, 50. 

Governments, duality of, over same people and territory, "J"] ; un- 
known before to political science, ']'] ; theoretic idea of creat- 
ing new representative government, 310-313 ; Hamilton's ear- 
liest idea of, 335, 336. 

Grattan (Henry), his sententious expression of the American idea 
of legitimate resistance, 286. 

Greeley (Horace), reviver of Hamilton's protective policy, 21, note. 

Greene (General Nathanael), in command of forces on Long Isl- 
and, 377 ; ill at New York during the battle, 377 ; first meet- 
ing with Hamilton, 394, 395 ; at Fort Lee, 414, 415 ; visits 
Colonel Rahl, 419 ; meets Hamilton again, 425 ; their close 
friendship, 425, 426, 427 ; Hamilton's Eulogium, 426, note. 

Gridley (Jeremy), founds "The Sodality," 170. 

Grotius (Hugo de), " Mare Liberum," cited, 140, note. 

Guizot, his high estimation of Hamilton as statesman ; see Intro- 
duction, vii., and 36. 

Gustavus Adolphus, recommends Swedish settlements in Amer- 
ica, 83, and note J Oxenstiern fulfills that wish, 83, and note. 

Hale (Sir Matthew), his apophthegm on Parliament, 88. 

Hallam (Henry), on true political progress, a manifestation of an- 
cient principles of liberty, 186, note 2. 

Hamilton (Alexander), death of, not untimely, 7 ; founded a repub- 
lic for the people, not a " democratie," 8 ; the idea entertained 
by few, 8 : did not favor a monarchy for America, 9, 10, note 
I ; unreserved in expressing opinions, 9, 10, 12, 13; believed 



454 INDEX. 

a commonwealth or Cromwellian era not desirable, li ; his 
faith in the English constitution as the "model," 12 ; idea of 
pure republicanism, 13 ; democracy tends to monarchy, 13 ; 
American empire rests on consent of the people, 13 ; his fa- 
miliar knowledge of governmental organism, 16 ; leads the 
Nationalists, 18; marries Elizabeth Schuyler, 19; Hamilton's 
high reputation when 31 years old, 19 ; epithet "precocious" not 
applicable to him, 19; intuitional genius of, 20; makes Talley- 
rand's acquaintance in 1794, 20 ; their friendship, 20 ; com- 
parison of, with each other, 20 ; letter on finance to Robert 
Morris, 21 ; his public school system adopted in France, 22 ; 
his ideas of governments reject all but a pure republic, 23 ; 
acting on implied powers, 26 ; selected for Secretary of the 
Treasury, 26, 27 ; his rare success, 27 ; Talleyrand miniature, 
32 ; bust by Cerrachi, 32 ; incident of Burr's visit to Talley- 
rand, related by Martin Van Buren, 32 and 33 ; translation of 
" Federalist," published, 1792, in France, 32, 33 ; Talleyrand 
compares Napoleon, Fox, and Hamilton, 33, 34, 35, and note ; 
Ticknor's anecdote of, 33, 34 ; also, Van Buren's, 35 ; style 
and character of " The Federalist " lauded by " Edinburgh Re- 
view" and " Blackwood's Magazine," 37 ; National Bank an im- 
plied power, 38 ; character as a jurist, 39 ; Chancellor Kent's 
opinion of, 40 ; Chief Justiceship offered to Hamilton, and de- 
clined, 41 ; his manner of pubHc speaking. 41 ; compared with 
Pitt as orator and statesman, 41-43 ; Jefferson's good opinion 
of Hamilton's personal and political honor, 43, 44 ; Van Bu- 
ren's opinion, also, 44 ; Talleyrand notices Hamilton at night 
work, and satirizes the public's neglect, 44 ; Hamilton's per- 
sonal appearance and manner, 45 ; his letter to Stevens, 47, 
48 ; requested to go on special mission to France, and decUnes, 
66 ; writes the declaratory preface to the Constitution, 'j'i, ; 
letter to Duane, 93, 104, 106, 108 ; not in favor of single legis- 
lative body, 94 ; duality of governments a new system, 'j'] ; 
Hamilton its author, 100-103 ; its probable origin, 100-103 > 
his intuitive genius, 103 ; advises that the Confederation has 
free sovereignty not controllable by the States, 107, and Jtote; 
writes the " Continentalist " papers, 109 ; drafts resolutions 
for a Convention of the States, 109 ; attends Congress of 1783, 



INDEX. 455 

112; author of the address, 112; its substance, 112; his par- 
entage and birth, 145-148 ; letter to his brother Thomas, 146; 
supported by his mother's relations, 149 ; early education, 149; 
enters counting-house of Nicholas Cruger, 150 ; marked in- 
dustry and ability, 150, 151, 153; confidence of Mr. Cruger, 
151 ; business letters, 152, 153; Rev. Hugh Knox supervises 
Hamilton's studies, 154; self-education of, 154-157, 179, 180; 
remarkable letter to Edward Stevens, 159, 160 ; his ambitious 
spirit, 161, 162 ; leaves St. Croix, and arrives in New York, 
162 ; befriended by William Livingston, 162 ; preparatory 
studies at EHzabethtown, 165 ; his diligence, 166-172 ; Hercu- 
les Mulligan, 173, 174; Hamilton's request to enter Princeton 
College denied, 174; enters King's College by special con- 
ditions, 175 ; constant to his friendships, 176, 177, 178 ; Troup's^- 
reminiscences of, 176-178; Nicholas Fish, executor of his will, 
177 ; Edward Stevens attends him in sickness, 177 ; Hamilton 
favors an Erie canal, 178, note; attends Dr. Clossey's ana- 
tomical lectures, 178 ; books read by Hamilton beyond the pre- 
scribed studies, 179, 180 ; his retired habit of study, 181 ; his 
justice to his political opponents, 250, 251; controversy with 
"The Westchester Farmer," 253-260, 330-341 ; the great ef- 
fect on public opinion, 254-258 ; discussion with Dr. Cooper, 
258, note 2 ; writes for the newspapers, 258, 259; William Cole- 
man, 258, 259, and note ; anecdote of Hamilton's way of inspir- 
ing editorials, 258, 259, and note; pen busy during 1775, 3^9 i 
Jay's interest in, 329 ; states the true principle of the colonial 
controversy, 266, 267, 331 ; refutes the doctrine of parliament- 
ary omnipotence and omnipresence, 335-340 ; describes his 
individual feelings concerning colonial resistance, 340, 341 ; 
idea of states in empire, 336-340 ; in the affair of the Asia, 
353; aids President Cooper to evade a mob, 354, and note; in 
the debating club of King's College, 358, and note 2 ; speech . 
to the merchants, 358-361 ; unlikely story about his intention 
to return to St. Croix, 386 ; Lord Stirling wishes to have him 
as brigade-major, 387 ; appointed to command the artillery 
company, 388 ; recruits his men with his last remittance, 388 ; 
services in New York, 388, 389-395 ; letters to Provincial 
Congress, 390, 391, 392 ; important action of Congress on the 



456 INDEX. 

letters, 393 ; Hamilton and Gen. Greene, 394, 395 ; meets with 
Aaron Burr, 400, 401 ; comparison, 403-407 ; affair with Maria 
Reynolds, 406 ; his pamphlet concerning that affair, 405, note; 
again attracts Washington's attention, 415, 416; personal de- 
scription of Hamilton at this time, 416, 417; appointed aid- 
de-camp to Washington, 424-429 ; eulogium on Gen. Greene, 
426, note\ letter to Washington before battle on Long Island, 
427 ; letter to the Convention of New York, 428 ; raised to 
rank of Lieutenant-colonel, 428 ; letter from Convention to, 
428, 429 ; his artillery company merged, 428, 429. 

Hamilton (Andrew), effect of his argument in Zenger's case, 62 ; 
Lord Erskine reproduces in St. Asaph case the substance of 
that argument, 62. 

Hamilton's (John C.) edition of the "Federalist" commended, 
37, note. 

Hancock (John), letter of, to New York Provincial Congress, an- 
nouncing Declaration of Independence, 374, 375. 

Harlaem, battle of, 399, 400 ; good effect of, 399, 400 ; best descrip- 
tion of, by H. B. Dawson, 400, note i ; 424. 

Harrington's " Oceana," 50 ; his predictions of British ascendancy 
in Europe, 191, note. 

Hastings (Warren), clerk in East India Company's service, 158. 

"Hearts of Oak," Garrick's song of, 381, 384, note i; volunteer 
corps joined by Hamilton take that name, 384 ; wears the old 
colonial uniform, 384, and note 2. 

Hessians, at Chatterton's Hill, 411 ; at Fort Washington, 414 ; 
high character of their officers, 414, note; 419, 420, 423. 

Hillard (George H.), his "Life of Jeremiah Mason," quoted as to 
Hamilton and Coleman, 259, note. 

Hobbes (of Malmsbury), 50 ; his " Dialogues " studied by Hamil- 
ton, 180. 

Holland (Lord), favorable opinion of Talleyrand's honor, 31, note. 

Hollanders settle New York, 80 ; their temper and power, 80, 81-83. 

Horner (Francis, statesman), cited, 180 and note. 

Howe (Lord), his mission for a ministerial peace fails, 397. 

Howe (Sir William), 304, 319, 369, 370; arrives with his army and 
the fleet off Sandy Hook, 371 ; encamps on Staten Island, 371, 
372 ; his plan to reach New York over Long Island, 377, 396; 



INDEX. 457 

declines to attack Washington at White Plains, 412, 413; re- 
tires to near the Hudson, 412, 413 ; Fort Washington captured, 
414; follows American army to the Delaware, 415, 416, 420. 

Huguenots, 80, 81-83, 322. 

Hutchinson (Governor of Massachusetts), biographical notice of, 
197, note J in England an emissary of discord, 202, 276. 

"Idees Napoleoniennes," quoted, 10, fiote. 

Implied powers, 24, and note; 25,26; the key-note to American 
politics, 26; Hamilton's advice as to National Bank, 38; the 
Confederation a National Government with complete sover- 
eignty, 107, and Jiote. 

Independence, Declaration of, 63 ; fundamental constitution of 
every State, 107; Continental Congress advising colonies to 
adopt adequate governments, necessarily a declaration of, 374 ; 
Washington publishes it to the army, 376. 

Inglis (Rev. Dr.), 295, 297. 

Indians, hostility of to colonists encouraged, 347. 

James II., abdication by, 58. 

Jay (John), his favorable opinion of the English constitution, 12 ; 
suspects the good faith of Vergennes, 64 ; Franklin's letter 
to, 121, note ; letter to Washington on supposed violation of 
public faith, 125 ; remarkable interview with Duke d'Aranda, 
131, 132 ; he, with Adams, foils Vergennes' scheme, 134, 135 ; 
marries daughter of Governor Livingston, 166 ; member of 
"The Moot," 172, note J Hamilton's anonymous first pam- 
phlets ascribed to, 257, 258 ; aids the Penn mission, 281, 284 ; 
home of, 292 ; appointed to the Congress of 1774, 310, ttote. 

Jebb (Dr.), quoted, as to American Revolt, 61, note. 

Jefferson (Thomas), nominated by caucus, 7, note; his relation of 
Franklin's account of Lord North's indifference and threat of 
confiscation, 10, note 2 ; his works cited, 10, note 2 ; at Ver- 
sailles, 25 ; good opinion of Hamilton's political and personal 
honor, 43, 44; Secretary for Foreign Affairs, 122 ; his famous 
state paper, and interview with British Minister Hammond, 
123, and note; affronted by George III., 127 ; ill-mannered 
piece of acting toward Mr. Merry, the British Minister, 128, 
and Jtote; opinion of the Penn mission, 283, 284. 



458 INDEX. 

" Junius' Letters," suggestions as to their author, loi, note. 
Jurist, Hamilton's abilities as, 39 ; Chancellor Kent's opinion of, 

40, 41 ; anecdote of, 40, 41, note. 
Justinian's "Institutes," 51. 

Kent (James, Chancellor), high opinion of Hamilton as a jurist, 
40, 41 ; early refusal of States to empower Confederation re- 
sults in permanent good, 94 ; address before The Law Asso- 
ciation, 433-435- 

King, the political meaning of the term, 57, and note. 

King's College, 243, 244 ; students in affair of the Asia,; 352, 353 ; 
debating-club of, and its members, 358, and tiote 2 ; students 
join a volunteer military corps, 383, 384 ; popular dislike to, 
385 ; holds its last Commencement in 1774, 385 ; by order of 
Committee of Safety, College buildings taken for military uses, 
385 ; students dispersed, 385. 

Knox (General Henry), at meeting of army ofHcers, 70. 

Knox (Dr. Hugh), supervises Hamilton's classical studies, 154; 
character and talents of, 154-157 ; introduces Hamilton to 
William Livingston, and others, 164-167. 

Lafayette (Marquis de), too republican for the French, 9; 
preference for a constitutional monarchy for France, 24 ; his 
letter to Washington on decline of respect for America in 
Europe, 115 ; the one truest friend of America in France, 135. 

Lamartine, quoted, concerning Mirabeau, 19. 

Lamb (John, Colonel), 289, 315, note ; affair of Asia, 352 ; com- 
mands artillery company in the Canadian campaign, 388. 

Landor (Walter Savage), his " Imaginary Conversations," 32. 

Langton (Archbishop of Canterbury), entitled, with the Earl of 
Pembroke, to the glory of maintaining national independence 
of England, 187, fwtey 278. 

Lasher (Colonel), affair of the Asia, 352. • 

Law-clubs, colonial, great influence of, 170-172. 

Law of Progress, described by Hallam and Liddon, 186-188, 
note 2. 

Lawrence (Edward), relates fact of Hamilton's speech to the mer- 
chants, 361, note. 



INDEX. 459 

Lawrence (Hon. William Beach), cited, 315, tiote. 

Lee (General Charles), in command of New York, 362-368 ; re- 
lieved by Lord Stirling, 368. 

Letters of marque and reprisal issued, 372. 

Lexington and Concord, 278, 290 ; news of, reaches New York, 
309 ; effect of, on Celtic inhabitants of Georgia and the Caro- 
linas, 346. 

Liddon (Dr. Henry Parry, Canon), quoted, 60 ; the vitality of a 
virtue, 105 ; on the law of true progress, 185, note. 

Livingston (William), his family descent, 164, I65 ; Hamilton while 
at Elizabeth town in his family, 165 ; character and conduct of, 
167-169 ; his influence upon Hamilton's mind, 169 ; President 
of " The Moot," 171, 172, note; authorship of Hamilton's 
first pamphlets ascribed to, 257 ; his party, 293. 

Locke (John), 51* 

Lolme, de, cited, on the English constitution, 22. 

Long Island, royal sentiment in, 291, 292 ; measures against the 
royalists, 297, note j retreat of American army from, 303 ; bat- 
tle of, 395-397 ; depressing effects of, 395-397 ; descriptions 
of, 396, note 2 ; 412. 

Lyndhurst (Lord), his speech on Right of Search, 140, note. 

Macaulay (Lord), description of the effects of the revolution of 
1688, II ; "History of England," quoted, 11 ; opinion as to 
William Pitt, quoted, 42, and 7iote j as to "Junius' Letters" 
cited, 103, note. 

Macdonald (Flora), and her husband, in America, 345, 346, note. 

Machiavelli, 322. 

Mackintosh (Sir James), quoted, 180, note. 

Macpherson (Aid-de-camp to Montgomery), 348 ; death of, 349. 

Madison (James), nominated by caucus, 7, note ; at Congress of 
1783, 112; present when Jefferson acted unseemly to Mr. 
Merry, the British Minister, 128, note. 

Mansfield (Lord), presents John Adams as first Minister to Eng- 
land, 129 ; anecdote relating to, 129, note ; his speech on tra- 
ditional tendency of America to independence, 269, 270. 

Manufactures, Report upon, pronounced by Van Buren " Hamil- 
ton's masterpiece," 39. 



460 INDEX. 

Map, which accompanied the proposition of France, subjugating 
the United States to its national aggrandizement, 134, 

Marshall (John, Chief Justice), judicial expositor of the Constitu- 
tion, 38, 39 ; influence of the state of colonial learning upon, 
171, note I. 

Mason (Dr. John M.), quoted, 47, note. 

Medici (Lorenzo de), deviser of policy creating balance of power, 
16, and note. 

Merry (The British Minister), Jefferson's affront to, 128, 

M'Dougall (General Alexander), presides at " the meeting in the 
fields," 201, 258, 315, note J appointed colonel, 382, 388, fiotej 
examines Hamilton for captaincy, 387 ; at conflict on Chatter- 
ton's Hill, 412. 

Milton, quoted as to orders and degrees, 84 ; his " Areopagitica," 
quoted, 193, and note 2 ; 256, note ; 307. 

Mirabeau (Count de), discriminates as to a republic, 9, 13 ; his in- 
cautious, perhaps fatal, speech, 9, 13 ; suspicious circumstances 
of his death, 14, and note; Talleyrand's relation of, 14, and 
note J the French not " ripe " for a Republic, 13 ; "the infalli- 
bility of good sense," 19; advises Colonne to consult Talley- 
rand, 26, 30 ; his pamphlet on the " Cincinnati," 87. 

Moncrieffe (Margaret, afterwards Mrs. Coghlan), see Burr, and 
404, note I. 

Montesquieu, 51 ; quoted, 54. 

Montgomery (General Richard), receives Washington at New 
York, 320 ; sketch of, 314; appointed brigadier, 347 ; parting 
with his wife, 350, 7iote; heroic death of, 349 ; effect of on the 
country, 350, 382 ; on students of King's College, 381 ; device 
of " Victory or Death," worn by the " Hearts of Oak," 384, 
and note 2. 

Moore (Thomas), censorious lines on Jefferson, 128. 

" Moot " (The), a law-club in New York, 171 ; extraordinary influ- 
ence of, 171, 172 ; list of its members, 172, note. 

Morgann (Maurice), prepares statement about American conflict 
for Lord Shelburne, 271, 272. 

Morris (Gouverneur), interested in an Erie Canal, 178, note; 
Richard Penn, 280, 316; curious testamentary clause for his 
education, 317, notej education, social and political, adverse to 



INDEX. 461 

New England sentiments, 318, note; speech on paper cur- 
rency, 321, and note; receiving Washington at New York, 
320 ; home of, 292 ; sketch of, 314, 315 ; Duke de Morny, 314, 
note; letter to Penn, 316, note; proposed as colonel, 382. 

Morris (Lewis, father of Gouverneur), clause in his will concerning 
his son's education, 318, note; 315, note. 

Morris (Robert), advises Washington to select Hamilton for Sec- 
retaryship of Treasury, 26 ; Hamilton's letter to, on finance, 
104,321. 

Morristown, American Army at, 423. 

Mulligan (Hercules), earliest friend of Hamilton in New York, 173 ; 
active in the Revolution, 173 ; furnishes Washington informa- 
tion during the war, 174 ; Washington breakfasts with him, 
174; his reminiscences of Hamilton, 177, 257; member of 
committee, 310, note. 

Murray (Lindley), 310, note. 

Napoleon and Paoli, 59, note. 

Napoleon III., favors democracy and defines a republic, 9, note; 
" Idees Napoleoniennes," 10, note; De Morny, 314, note. 

National Bank, advised by Hamilton under implied constitutional 
power, 38. 

Nationalists, lead by Hamilton, 18. 

Navy, American, begun, 373, and note 2 ; names of the original 
vessels, 373. 

Necker, Talleyrand's speech on his famous report, 21. 

New York City, Manuals of, cited, 303, note. 

New York, Congress of 1765 meets there, 97 ; alone declines, 
1786, to grant Congress power to lay impost, 114; the first to 
propose a general Congress, 211, and note 2 ; it produces a 
plan for conciliation, 280 ; Colonial Assembly of, dissolved, 
280 ; neutrality of the Colony, 291 ; causes of, 29, 292 ; Conven- 
tion of 1775, 309 ; Provincial Congress of 1775 assembles, 314 ; 
unusual peril to New York from Canada, 347 ; receives and 
approves the Declaration of Independence, 374-376 ; changes 
its political title, 375, yjd. 

New England communities, self-imposed restraints of, 14, 15. 

North (Lord), threat of, 10, note 2 ; assures Paliament that the 



462 INDEX. 

Colonies are yielding, 204 ; proposes plan for conciliation, 
266, and note J the history of, 267 ; answers Burke, 274 ; 
Franklin is informed of North's purposes being "cool and 
calculated," 275. 

Obedience, passive, repudiated by the colonists, 58. 

O'Connell (Daniel), quoted on political intolerance in religion, 
252, and note. 

Otis (James), quoted as to law studies, 52, note ; as to the idea of 
the " Social Contract," 59 ; writs of assistance, 61, 62 ; first 
appearance in public life, 188; its important political effects, 
188 ; speaks the sentiments of royal colonists, 190, 191, and 
note J letter to Arthur Jones, 205 ; life of, quoted, 296, note. 

Oxenstiern (Chancellor), 42 ; accomplishes Gustavus Adolphus' 
design for Swedish colony, 83. 

Paoli and Napoleon, 59, note. 

" Parliamentary History of England," cited, 268, note i. 

Parliament, omnipotence of, dreaded, 78, 84-91, 97 ; Hamilton con- 
demns it, 334-340 ; asseverated by Parliament, 274. 

Peace of 1763 between France and England, effects of, 189. 

Peace of 1783 with Great Britain, 63-67 ; its important recognition 
of the assumed unity of the United States, (£, 97, in; diflS- 
culties in the way of completing its terms, 120; its agreements 
first violated by England, 123, and note, 124, 125 ; Jay to 
Washington on, 125. 

Pembroke (William, Earl of), 187, note. 

Penn (Richard), sent with petition to England, 280, 281, 320 ; his 
character and influence, 279, 280 ; departs on mission to Eng- 
land, 284, 320; Morris' letter to, 316, notej failure of his mis- 
sion, 357 ; Mrs. John Adams' letter upon, 357, note 2. 

" People V. Croswell," Hamilton's famous definition of libel in, 41. 

People, masses of, incline to monarchy, 9, note; opinion of Napo- 
leon III. and Franklin, 9, note; and of Mirabeau, 13. 

Pdrigord (Abbe de), knowledge of finance, 21, and see Talleyrand; 
consulted by Colonne, 26 ; leaves for America, 28 ; dramatic 
interview with Voltaire, 28. 

Petitions, sent to Parhament from English and Irish towns, 266 ; 
from Congress and Colonies rejected, 272, 273, 357. 



INDEX. 463 

Phocion, 60. 

Pitt (William), early acquaintance with Talleyrand, 27, and note ; 
alien law enforced against Talleyrand by him, 27, and note; 
compared as orator and statesman with Hamilton, 41, 42, and 
note, 43 ; his desire to admit American rights and immunities, 
130, 136 ; his method rejected, 138. 

Plato's " Republic," quoted, 305, note 2. 

" Plutarch's Men," 59, note I. 

Political parties in New York, 1787, 18, 126, 247, 251. 

Portugal, an example of removal of the seat of government, 195, 
note. 

Pownall (Gov. Thomas), biographical notice of, 261, note ; speech 
on America, 262, 263 ; Franklin and he alike in opinion, 262, 
263 ; speech on Lord North's plan for conciliation, 267, 268. 

Prejudices, historical, against union of States, 78 ; enumeration 
and description of, 78-93. 

Presidential candidates, five in the field in 1821, 2, note. 

Princeton and Trenton, 377, 419, 420. 

Provincial Congress of New York appoints Schuyler and Mont- 
gomery, Generals, 347, 350 ; requests protection of Connecti- 
cut troops, 351 ; orders removal of cannon from the battery, 
351; resumes propitiatory policy, 354, 355, 356; the Second 
Congress assembles, 361 ; the last of the Provincial legisla- 
tures, 361 ; orders troops into New York city, 368 ; invests 
Washington with full powers, 372; retires to White Plains, 
376 ; rejects project of citizens to raise an independent corps, 
382 ; requires Hamilton's services, 388 ; important action on 
communication from Hamilton, 393, 

Provincial Convention of New York, 289. 

Puffendorf, 51. 

Pusey (Dr.), quoted, on refined and subtle sins, 407, note. 

Putnam (General Israel), at meeting of army officers, 70 ; on Long 
Island, 395 ; retreats to Harlaem, 398. 

Quebec Act, 321-329; its subtle and mischievous policy, 321- 
329; origin of Catholic Emancipation, 324, and note; Hamil- 
ton's opinion on, 325, and 7tote r. 



464 INDEX. 

"Quincy (Josiah, Jr.), Life of," quoted, as to Chatham's speech, 
265, note ; as to Governor Hutchinson, 276. 

Raleigh (Sir Walter), his attempt to settle Virginia, 80. 
Randolph (John), his warm acknowledgment of a British influence, 

130, note. 
Revenue, England's need of, after the peace of 1763, the true cause 

of aggression, 196 ; the real object of Lord North's proposed 

conciliation, 266, and note 2. 
Revolution, American, object of, 10, 11 ; effect of on imagination of 

Europe, 67 ; English, of 1688, 11, 23, 58, 186 ; its influence in 

producing colonial resistance, 48-54, 186 ; French, of 1793, 23. 
Reynolds (Maria), see Hamilton. 
Right of trial by jury revived by the revolt of colonists, 61, 62, 

185. 
Rivington (James), his printing-house, 256 ; his " Gazette," 296; his 

printing-press destroyed by Sears, 300; his character, 301, 

note ; secret agent for Washington, 301. 
Runnymede, principles of its great charter of liberties asserted by 

American Revolt, 186. 

Seabuky (Samuel, Bishop), cited, 273, note 2; character and 
services of, 292-309 : biographical sketch of, 292-309, note 2 ; 
author of letters by " A Westchester Farmer," 293 ; memorial 
to the Lords Commissioners, 294, note r ; unites with Chandler 
and Inglis, 295; assembles royalists at White Plains, 296; his 
great influence upon the Colonial Assembly, 298, 299; attempt 
to seize him, 300 ; taken prisoner, 302 ; proceedings of New 
York Congress upon, 303, note; his release, 303, note j goes 
to London, 304 ; consecrated Bishop, 306 ; death and burial 
of, 309; Concordate with Scotch Bishops, 435-439. 

Seabury (Samuel, D. D., grandson of the Bishop), quoted, as to 
origin of true government, 103, 7iote. 

Sears (Isaac), 258; member of Provincial Congress, 300 ; destroys 
Rivington's printing-house, 300, 301, 302, 303, note^ 315, note 
I ; in the affair of the Asia, 352. 

Sedgwick (Theodore), his " Life of William Livingston," cited, 
165, 168. 



INDEX. 465 

Selden's " Mare Clausum," cited, 141, note. 

Schieffelin (Richard Lawrence), cited, 361. 

Schuyler (General Philip), Hamilton married to his daughter, 19; 
concerned in an Erie Canal, 178, note ; member of Colonial 
Assembly, 273 ; influence of, 290; indignant at conduct of the 
Colonial Assembly, 299, 320; appointed major-general, 347; 
illness of, 348 ; Montgomery succeeds him, 348 ; originates 
company by which was first used the American colors, 384, 
note 3. 

Sheffield (Lord), his pamphlet, good effects of, on American unity, 
137, note. 

Shelburne (Earl of), policy of, 64-67 ; effect of, 96, 97, 136; letter 
to Chatham, 261, note, 265, 269; created Marquis of Lands, 
downe, 270; letter of, presented by Talleyrand to Washington, 

270, tiote J a summary of a plan prepared for him by Morgann, 

271, 272. 

Sherlock (Bishop), sermons of, 30S ; proposes Episcopate for 

America, 308. 
Smedley (Miss Menella Bute), beautiful lines of, quoted, 142. 
"Sodality" (The), at Boston, 170 ; John Adams, a member of, 170, 
Somers (Chancellor), 42 ; his famous tract on " Kingdoms and 

Nations," 50, and 7totej his authority in the formation of 

American opinions, 56. 
" Sons of Liberty," 289 ; history of, 219, 289, 316, 7iote. 
South (Bishop), quoted, 19. 
Souza (Madame de, Flauhaut), 314, note. 
" Sparks' Writings," quoted, as to Gage's dispatches, 203, tiote ; 

history" of Lord North's proposed conciliation, 266, note 2; 

history of Congress of 1754, 267, note, 311 ; Penn's mission, 

320, and note 2 ; as to the conciliatory spirit of the colonists, 

373, note I. 
Stamp Act, its immediate effects, 61 ; character of resistance to, 

and of men who resisted, 48-54, 198, 199, 261. 
"State-household" a better expression than political economy 

loi, and note J its significance, loi, and note, 103. 
Sterling (William Alexander, Lord of), his regiment in New York, 

368 ; wishes Hamilton for his brigade-major, 387 ; taken pris- 
oner on Long Island, 395, 396. 



466 INDEX. 

Stephens (James), his " War in Disguise," cited, 141, note. 
Stevens (Dr. Edward), Hamilton's letter to, 159, 160; at King's 

College with Hamilton, 176; as physician, attends Hamilton, 

177, and note 2; appointed on commission to Toussaint I'Ou- 

verture, 177, and note 2, 178. 
Supreme general government dreaded by the colonists, 'jZ, 87-91, 

93-100. 
Sully, 42. 
Swedes, settlement of, on the Delaware, 82, 83 ; Gustavus Adol- 

phus and Oxenstiern, 83. 
" Sydney on Government," 50. 

Talleyrand, Bishop of Rheims, 27. 

Talleyrand-Pdrigord (Marquis de), his "£tude sur la R^publique," 
quoted, 34, note ; 38, note. 

Talleyrand (Prince de), relation of suspicious circumstances of 
Mirabeau's death, 14, and note j arrives in America in 1794, 
20 ; makes Hamilton's acquaintance, 20 ; their friendship, 20 ; 
comparison as to individualities, 20, 21-36; his knowledge of 
finance acquired at Autun, 21 ; his reports thereon, 21 ; pro- 
poses systems of weights and measures, and of public educa- 
tion, 22 ; infuses his own plan with Hamilton's more perfect 
system, 22 ; his respect for the English Constitution, 22 ; true 
government is law, 23 ; preference for a limited monarchy, 24 ; 
prominent in framing a French constitution, 25 ; acting on im- 
plied powers, 26 ; consulted by Calonne, 26 ; appointed Minis- 
ter to England, 27 ; interviews with Pitt, 27, and note; pro- 
scribed by France, 27 ; denied refuge in Europe, 27 ; plan for 
a league against England proposed by him to Napoleon, 27, 
note; arrives in America, 28; meets Hamilton, 28; interview 
with Voltaire, 28, 29, and note ; his wit compared, 30 ; Duke of 
Wellington's favorable opinion of his honor, 31, and note; his 
"Secret Memoirs," 31 ; personal description of, 31, 32; the 
Talleyrand miniature of Hamilton, 32 ; compares Napoleon, 
Fox, and Hamilton, 33, 34, and note ; gives the first place to 
the last, 34, and note, 35 ; anecdote of the Abbd Dupanloup, 
34, note; birth and death of, 36, note; advises Duke d' Aranda 
to study " The Federalist," 37 ; Hamilton, having made the na- 



INDEX. 467 

tion's fortune, labors to support his family, 44, 55 ; Talleyrand 
and Washington, 270, note 2. 

Tea, destruction of, and object, 209, and note ; Richmond, Camden, 
Fox, justify this resistance, 209 ; Goethe's remark upon, 208. 

" The Drum," 381 ; sung by Hamilton, 381, note. 

Ticknor (George), relates anecdote of Talleyrand's high estimation 
of Hamilton, 33, 34. 

Ticonderoga, the seizure of, the first overt act of war, 281 ; not au- 
thorized nor approved by Congress, 281, 347; Carleton deter- 
mines to retake it, 347, 381. 

Tocqueville (Alexis de), his "De la Democratie en Amerique," 
quoted as to learning in America, 48, and note 2. 

Toussaint 1' Ouverture, Hamilton causes Stevens to be sent as 
commissioner to, 177. 

" Travis mob," 354. 

Trenton and Princeton, yji, 419, 420, 424. 

Trial by jury, restored, 185. 

Troup (Robert, Colonel), reminiscences of Hamilton at College, 
176; member of debating-club with Hamilton, 176, 358, and 
7iote2\ and retains his friendship, 178; connected with Hol- 
land Land Company, 178, note ; Hamilton favors an Erie Canal, 
178, note J reads Hamilton's first pamphlet in MSS. before its 
publication, 257, 258 ; confronts a mob at King's College, 354, 
and note j biographical sketch of, 382, 383, note 2. 

Trumbull (Gov. Jonathan), receives from the New York Provin- 
cial Congress its letter concerning Seabury, 303, 7iote. 

Tryon (Governor of New York), his insincerity perceived by 
Washington, 320 ; surprised and humiliated by the change of 
public sentiment, 320, 350, 351 ; informs the Mayor of Lord 
Dartmouth's letter, 355, 356; takes refuge on the sloop-of-war 
Halifax, 358; his threat not performed, 368; created LL. 
D. by King's College, 385. 

Turgot, compliment to him by Voltaire, 265, 7iote j believes 
America and England likely to be reconciled, 269. 

Uniform, Colonial, described, 384, note 3 ; Continental, 384, 

note 3 ; American, 64, 65 ; Whig, 64, 65. 
Union, early attempts for, by the Colonies, 94-100. 



468 INDEX. 

" United States, History of," by Sydney Howard Gay and William 
Cullen Bryant, 79, 80, note, cited. 

United States of America, a republic, not a "democratie," 2. 

Uri, Republic of, a decisive instance of executive continuity, 85. 

Vergennes (Count de), ulterior object of, 63-66; adverse to na- 
tional growth of the United States, 131 ; his proposition to 
England, and its accompanying map, 132-135; Jay and Adams 
defeat his schemes, 64, 134, 135; the disclosures of the fa- 
mous iron chest, 135 ; believes America and England likely to 
be reconciled, 269; mistake of Chatham, 323, note i. 

Versailles, delegates at, assume implied powers, 24 ; consults inter- 
ests, not opinions, of constituents, 25. 

Van Buren (Martin), relates incident of Burr's visit to Talleyrand, 
33 ; Talleyrand regards Hamilton the ablest man in America 
or in Europe, 35 ; Hamilton's report upon manufactures de- 
clared his " masterpiece," 39 ; good opinion of Hamilton's 
personal and political honor, 44 ; " Political Parties " of, 
quoted, 141, note. 

Vaiie (Sir Henry), his projects to induce the Massachusetts Col- 
ony to adopt the order of an aristocracy, 84. 

Vattel's " Law of Nations," 51. 

Vinnius, 51. 

Virginia, settlement of, and temper of its colonists, 79, 80. 

Voltaire, his dramatic interview with Abbe de Pdrigord, 28 ; scene 
at the Academy with Franklin, 29, note; portrait of Franklin 
at Ferney, 29, note; compliment to Turgot, 265, note. 

Washington, favorable to English Constitution, 12 ; selects Ham- 
ilton for Secretary of Treasury, 26, 27 ; quoted as to the need 
for a united government, 67 ; affecting scene at the meeting 
of army officers, 70 ; resigns command at Annapolis, 70 ; sa- 
luted as the " Fabius of the Age," 70 ; the north star guides, 
though not the brightest, 74 ; letter from La Fayette on de- 
cline of respect for America in Europe, 115; letter on the 
States' neglect for the payment of the public debt, 116-118; 
breakfasts with Hercules Mulligan, 174; thanked by House 
of Burgesses, 190, and note 2; Talleyrand, 270, note 2 ; offers 
to march to the relief of Boston, 279 ; appointed Commander- 



INDEX. 469 

in-chief, 282 ; Rivington acts as an informer for, 301, note; 
received by the New York Provincial Congress, 320; suspects 
Tryon, 329 ; forms the American Army, 345 ; orders Gen. 
Charles Lee to New York, 362; Lee's letters to, 364, 366; 
British army evacuates Boston, 369, 370; Washington enters 
the town, 370; goes to New York and assumes the direct com- 
mand, 370, 386 ; visit to Congress at Philadelphia, 371 ; his 
defensive measures at New York, 372 ; Provincial Congress 
invests him with dictatorial power, 372 ; publishes Declaration 
of Independence to the army, 376 ; cooperates with Committee 
of Safety, 386; retires from New York to Harlaem, 396-399; 
first meeting with Hamilton, 400; retreats through the Jerseys 
to the Delaware, 414-417; notices Hamilton again, 415, 416; 
crosses the Delaware, 419; at Trenton, 419; at Princeton, 
421 ; lines of Ennius quoted, 422 ; second meeting with Ham- 
ilton, 424; Hamilton becomes his private secretary, 426. 

" War in Disguise," policy of Shelburne Ministry, 136, 137, 138. 

Webster (Daniel), esteem for Lord Somers as lawyer and states- 
man, 51, note J wears the Whig costume, 64, 65; on the do- 
minion and "martial airs" of England, quoted, 158 ; influence 
of colonial learning upon, 171, note i ; on decisive political 
effects of Battle of Bunker Hill, 201, note ; cited, 313, note j 
conservative character of the Declaration of Independence, 
375, note 2. 

Wedderburn, insults Franklin at " The Cockpit," 207, note 2 ; ad- 
vises that the Massachusetts Provincial Congress is a treason- 
able body, 277. 

Wellington (Arthur, Duke of), favorable opinion of Talle3'rand, 
31, and note J first speech of, in Irish Parliament, in favor of 
Catholic Emancipation, 324, note. 

West (Benjamin, painter), anecdote of, and Lord Nelson, 162, 
note. 

" Westchester Farmer's " pamphlets, usefulness and fame of Ham- 
ilton's answers to, 330-341 ; anger and tumult aroused by the 
pamphlets among the people, 253, 254, 266; Seabury the au- 
thor of those letters, 293 ; address of, to the merchants, and 
Hamilton's speech in answer, 360, 361. 

Whigs, English, grow cold towards America when Independence 
is clainjed, 128, 129. 



470 INDEX. 

White Plains, Washington at, 410 ; fight at " Chatterton's Hill," 
411, 412. 

Wilkes (John), case of, assertion of Otis' argument, 61. 

Wilkins (Isaac), 296; authorship of Seabury's letters attributed 
to, 296 ; attempt to seize him, 300 ; escapes to England, 300. 

Willetts (Marinus), 258, note j member of debating-club at King's 
College, 358, 382, note i ; his " Narrative " quoted as to the 
Colonial uniform, 384, note 3 ; appointed captain, 388. 

William the Silent, 60. 

Witherspoon (Dr.), decHnes Hamilton's request to enter Princeton 
College on special terms, 174. 

Wolfe (General), influence of his heroic death upon the youth of 
England, 162; anecdote of Lord Nelson and Benjamin West, 
162, note J recites Gray's Elegy, 349. 

Wooster (General), encamps at Harlaem, 351. 

Writs of Assistance, an illegal device, 188; withheld, 261; influ- 
ence of Otis' argument in Wilkes' case, 61. 



